


Not a Team Player

by JWade



Category: Norse Religion & Lore, Supernatural
Genre: Episode s13e18, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-19
Updated: 2018-04-23
Packaged: 2019-04-25 02:23:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 25
Words: 42,987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14368851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JWade/pseuds/JWade
Summary: Set during and after episode 13x18.





	1. Chapter 1

Sam paced the halls of the bunker, worried out of his mind that Gabriel was gone for good. He hadn’t missed the lack of recognition in the archangel’s eyes when he was speaking. Or the fear. God, just seeing Gabriel like this was killing him. This fear and skittishness. It wasn’t like Gabriel at all. He was an archangel for christ’s sake. He wasn’t made to cower. Even when he was running from the fight, he stood tall and strong. This was just…a perversion. This wasn’t Gabriel. He had to get Gabriel back. Somehow. For Mom. For Jack. For himself even. God help him, but he didn’t want to live in a world where Gabriel was reduced to this. 

Gabriel resisted the urge to engage as he felt Cas try to heal him. He knew it wouldn’t work. So did Cas, judging by what he told Sam. He managed to hold back his scoff as Cas talked about healing his mind. His mind was working just fine. Well, not really, but fine enough. He understood everything that was going on around him. He just knew better than to show it. If he took the grace they were offering, it would ignite the grace inside him, and Asmodeus would be able to sense him. It was a side effect of having so much of Gabriel’s grace inside his body. They were connected now, and he couldn’t lead Asmodeus here. To Sam. He was resigned to going back himself. He wouldn’t be given a choice in the end. He never was. This wasn’t the first time he’d gotten out, after all. 

After that attempt, he decided to try and get his point across without getting too involved. He painted his story on the walls, hoping that they would realize why he couldn’t do this. It didn’t work though. He should have known it wouldn’t. Sam never let anything go. He always had to tug on the heartstrings Gabriel thought he left behind long ago. “Gabriel. You have to dig yourself out of this hole. I know you think it’s safer inside. No more torture. No more pain. No more expectations. I’ve been there. You’re nothing like your family. You sure as hell weren’t like your dad.” Gabriel resisted the urge to scoff. That was an understatement if he ever heard one. “Me either. And just like you, I got out. Or I thought I got out. But then…then my family needed me. And this is my life. No matter how many times I try to fight it. This is what I was put here to do. This is where I make the world a better place. And sure. Hookers in Monte Carlo sounds great, but your family needs you. Jack, your nephew, needs you. The world needs you. We need you…Gabriel, I need you. So please, help us.”

Damn him. Stupid fucking hunters. Pulling Gabriel in when all he wanted to do was just curl up and die. Why couldn’t Sam just take the grace they needed from him and then put him out of his misery. He could live with that. He pushed those thoughts from his mind and focused on the ‘important’ stuff. “Porn stars,” Gabriel couldn’t help but croak out. “They were porn stars, Sam.” Like he would ever actually pay for sex. Like he would ever actually need to. It seemed that little bit of conversation was enough to renew Sam’s hope and Gabriel couldn’t help but be warmed by Sam’s smile, as much as he hated that fact. He knew he’d made a mistake though. Even when they finally convinced him to take his grace back, he knew it was a mistake. The only thing he could do now though was try to get through it. Try to save as much strength as he could to protect Sam. 

Once he had his grace back, Sam’s phone rang. Gabriel had known it was coming. He heard Asmodeus’ voice on the other end and he couldn’t help but stiffen in fear and scramble back to the head of the bed. He heard Asmodeus demanding him back, and he knew it was inevitable, even as Sam went to increase the warding. Nothing they had would keep him out. Maybe if he was still just a simple prince of hell, it would work, and that was a big maybe. He wasn’t just a simple prince of hell though. He was a prince of hell hyped up on archangel grace. Nothing could keep him out now. Gabriel would have no choice but to let them take him and hope that Sam would be spared in the process. He rubbed his temples as he heard Asmodeus in his head. He could feel him coming closer. His eyes snapped open as he felt the demon’s presence in the bunker and he knew it was all over even before the lights went out and the alarms went off. 

Gabriel breathed a sigh of relief when Sam and Cas went off to investigate. At least they wouldn’t die fighting for him. When the demons came to get him a few minutes later, he only put up a token resistance, and even that was more a matter of his own survival instincts than anything conscious. He was too broken to make a conscious decision to fight. They dragged him up the stairs and he saw Asmodeus standing off with Sam and Cas. Once he saw that his prize was back in his possession they could leave. It didn’t work out that way though unfortunately. Asmodeus decided that he needed to punish Sam and Cas for their interference, and Gabriel couldn’t allow that. The demon had made his last mistake. Gabriel jerked his arms from the grip of the two demons on either side of him, throwing them down to the lower level. 

“Gabriel! What are you doing son? You know full well what I can do to you. I broke you!” Asmodeus said, shocked that the archangel would fight back. Too bad the demon didn’t realize that some things were more important than self-preservation. Gabriel squared his shoulders and stood with some effort, letting his grace fill him. “You’re too weak!” he told him. Fortunately, adrenaline, or something like it, could affect angels too. 

Gabriel’s grace burned away all the dirt and blood caking his body and healed his wounds as he pulled himself to his full height. It may not be much as far as the human was concerned, but he knew that Asmodeus and Cas could see his true form which was much more imposing than this tiny human vessel. “Not anymore,” Gabriel bluffed with a sneer. “Oh by the way…I always hated that dumbass suit.” He reached out and used the last of his fledgling grace to burn the demon away. He wasn’t sure if he’d had enough to kill him or if the demon left at the last second. He didn’t have the strength to sense it, but at the very least, he’d hurt him severely. Once they were alone in the bunker, Gabriel let himself sag and grabbed onto the railing for support. He really shouldn’t have done that, but Asmodeus had forced his hand the second he went after Sam. 

Sam saw Gabriel lose his footing and rushed up the stairs, ignoring his own aches and pains, and offered himself as a leaning post for the archangel to get him down the stairs and seated. Once he was sure that Gabriel wasn’t going to pass out on them, he started to catch the archangel up on what he’d missed, letting his own joy at Gabriel being back cloud his better judgement. To Sam’s mind, Gabriel had stepped up when Sam needed him and that meant that he would continue to do so. 

Gabriel’s head was spinning with all the information. “Whoa. Too much information. Okay. Slow down. I’m not processing.”

Cas, of course, just barreled on. “And there’s more. Michael wants to come to this earth and destroy it. We may need your help to fight him.”

“What?” Gabriel asked incredulously. 

“Yeah,” Sam gave a nervous huff of breath. “Welcome to the team.”

“Uhhh…yeah…not so much,” Gabriel shook his head. “I mean…thank you…for the rescue…and for the redemption arc, but uh…I’m not really a TEAM guy, so…I’m gonna bounce kay?” He had no intention of throwing his life on another cause for Sam Winchester. Saving him from certain death was one thing, but this…no way. He wasn’t strong enough to help fight an ant at the moment, much less his oldest, strongest brother. “Um, but, you know, it’s been um…what’s the opposite of fun? That.”

“No, no. Gabriel. No. You can’t just walk away. If Michael comes here he will end this world,” Sam tried to reason with him. 

“And the last time the world was ending, I put my money on you,” he said honestly, and he had been right to. “I think you can pull it off again.” He had the utmost faith in the hunter. Sam didn’t know the meaning of the word failure. He would find a way. He always did. And this time it wouldn’t involve throwing Gabriel on the sacrificial altar. Been there. Played that game. Sam had proven that was all he was good for in the hunter’s eyes. 

“No,” Cas butted in. “You cannot turn your back on your father’s creation,” he ordered. 

Gabriel rolled his eyes and spun around. “Castiel…my FATHER turned his back on HIS creation. Guess it just runs in the family,” he said wryly. 

“No, Gabriel, please…” he heard from the hunter as he flew away and it took everything he had not to go back. Walking away was the hardest thing he’d ever done, but staying would destroy him, and not just his life. 

Sam huffed as he plopped into his seat. He didn’t know why he was so surprised. He shouldn’t have been. Maybe some part of him hoped that, after everything, Gabriel might be at least a little bit worthy of the feelings Sam couldn’t help but harbor for him. That maybe he would actually fight for him. He was an idiot. How many more times would he let Gabriel disappoint him?


	2. Chapter 2

It wasn’t long after Gabriel left before Dean came back alone and the fit he threw was one for the record books. Sam let him rant for a while before he snapped. “So what…you think we should have found a nice little cage with some chains and stolen his grace by force?” 

“Wouldn’t have been the first time it happened to him,” Dean snapped back, too lost in his anger to censor himself. 

“You have got to be fucking kidding me,” Sam hissed heatedly. 

His brother’s tone was enough to stop Dean in his tracks. He had never heard so much venom dripping from his brother’s voice. Not directed at him anyway. The surprise of it made him realize what he’d said and managed to control himself enough not to pale at the implication. “Okay, so no. But damnit Sammy. We were so close.” 

“I know, Dean,” Sam forced himself to calm down and accept his brother’s almost apology. “But we can’t force Gabriel into anything. All we can do is try to find him and talk him around.” 

“You really think that’ll work,” Dean asked skeptically. 

“I don’t know,” Sam admitted. “But it’s got a better chance than taking on Lucifer and getting his grace, especially now that he’s in control of heaven.” They’d heard that much from Cas who’d heard it on angel radio. 

The next morning, Sam was still sleeping when Dean and Cas were brainstorming ways to find Gabriel. If they had asked Sam he would have suggested praying, but they didn’t ask Sam. The only clue Sam got to the issue was when he heard Dean telling Cas to go ahead with his idea. When asked, Dean admitted that Cas was going to heaven to get the other angels to help. “So you think it’s a good idea to broadcast Gabriel’s survival to the very people he’s hiding from? You think that will make him more eager to help?” Sam asked incredulously. 

“Well if he won’t stick around, it’s his own fault,” Dean said defensively. “If he would deal with us like a man then we wouldn’t have to go to such lengths.”

“Did you even try praying for him?” Sam asked. 

“Of course not. If he won’t listen when he’s right here what makes you think he’d listen over prayer?” Dean asked, wondering why it seemed like Gabriel was such a sore spot with his brother lately. 

“Whatever,” Sam grumbled, grabbing a cup of coffee and heading to the library with his laptop. All these years and he was still working on a digital catalogue of the library. He would wait until Cas got back before praying to Gabriel. The archangel at least deserved to know if his cover was blown and people were looking for him. Maybe he could even use that to get a little help if he could convince Gabriel that he had nothing to do with it. It was a long shot, but it was their only shot at the moment. 

It was two days before Cas returned and told them that the angels wouldn’t help find him. When Sam learned why, his jaw nearly dropped. He’d known it was bad, but only ten angels still alive? Heaven about to fail? All those souls lost? No. He couldn’t let that happen. It was just one more reason why they needed Gabriel. He had to make Gabriel listen. Somehow. He locked himself in the library and prayed like he had never prayed before. It was the only way to get in touch with Gabriel quickly. He would try to get the archangel here first. So that he could explain in person. If he had to do this over prayer he would though. The stakes were too high. Gabriel had to at least know, even if he wouldn’t do anything about it. 

It was a few hours of constant prayer before Sam heard the flutter of wings. “Jesus Christ, Sam. Can’t a guy lick his wounds in peace?” Gabriel snapped irritably. 

“You can do that here you know,” Sam offered. 

“Why, so you can keep bugging me every five minutes to throw myself on your sacrificial altar for the good of humanity? No thanks. Just leave me alone wouldja?” 

“Gabriel wait!” Sam said seeing that Gabriel was about to leave again. “Heaven is dying!” He had to make the archangel realize how serious this was. 

Gabriel scoffed. “Impossible. As long as there are angels in heaven it’s self-sustaining.”

“Yeah. As long as there are angels in heaven. But the angels are nearly extinct,” Sam said pointedly. 

“You’re not serious,” Gabriel said skeptically. It would be just like him to pull something like this and get Gabriel involved. 

“There are a total of 11 angels living now. Including Cas. Apparently their power is draining to nothing trying to keep heaven running, but they are fading fast,” Sam said gently, seeing the wave of pain wash over Gabriel’s face. 

“Eleven. That’s it. Out of the tens of thousands of angels there used to be, there are eleven left. You really expect me to believe that?” Gabriel asked. He couldn’t believe it. He wouldn’t believe it. There was no way they had lost so many. 

“Well between the apocalypse, the civil war, the leviathan, the fall, all the different warring factions, and so on…yeah. It really did a number on them, and without god around to make more angels…”

“So, let me get this straight. You want me to sacrifice some of my grace to get your mother out of an alternate reality, take on Michael when he gets to this one after being weakened, and take over and restore a dying heaven…you don’t ask for much do you?” Gabriel snapped, pacing the room. 

“You’re the only one that can do it. You have a lot of power, and with that comes a responsibility to take care of the people who need you. It sucks. I know it does, but you’re the only one who can keep this entire world, heaven included, from imploding. Can you really stand by and watch it happen?” Sam prodded. 

Gabriel glared at him for a moment before he paused in his pacing. A cruel smirk lit his face. “No. I can’t. And I shouldn’t have to,” he said taking the last few steps toward Sam. Before the hunter could react, he reached out and placed a hand on his forehead and another on his chest, shoving the hunter to the wall as he did so. His hands glowed brightly and Sam felt like he was burning alive. Was he being smote? Was this what it felt like? It sure seemed like it was taking a long time. What felt like hours later, but was only minutes, Gabriel let go and stumbled backwards. “There you go. Now YOU’RE the archangel. I’m just a measly little pagan now. YOU go fix it.” 

Gabriel pulled his smirk back onto his face and teleported away. He didn’t often use his pagan powers, the angelic ones being easier and more comfortable, but he didn’t have those anymore and his pagan powers were plenty for what he needed and no pesky angels butting into his business. No more hunters expecting him to save the world. He was free. Mostly. He HAD promised to help Thor run Asgard after Odin died in Elysian Fields, but he had been captured before the two of them finished drowning their sorrows following that event. That would be easy though. Definitely easier than saving the world. No. Sam could have that job if he wanted it so badly. 

Sam stood there for a moment in shock, trying to figure out what the hell just happened. He wasn’t sure how long it had been going on but he was jolted out of it by Dean banging loudly on the library door and yelling for him. Sam stumbled over to the door and opened it, just barely missing being flattened by his gung ho brother who barreled in looking for threats. He didn’t notice Cas stopping, wide-eyed in the doorway, as Dean started questioning him. “What happened? Cas said there was an explosion of grace in here. A big one. Are you okay? Who was here? Was it Gabriel?” 

“He is Gabriel,” Cas finally said from the doorway, and you could suddenly hear a pin drop in the room, as Dean backed away suspiciously. 

“No. I’m still Sam. I guess. Mostly,” Sam tried to reason with him. 

“What the hell does that mean?” Dean asked heatedly. 

“I think…I think Gabriel gave me his grace? Or something? I don’t know,” Sam said, still trying to wrap his own head around it. 

“He did WHAT?! Is…is that even possible?!” Dean exclaimed looking back and forth between Sam and Cas looking for answers. 

“I don’t know,” Cas said finally. “I’ve never heard of it before, and I know that seraphs can’t, but archangels are a whole different story. No one really knows what all they are capable of, and it’s not like they’re going to go around handing off their grace. It would definitely make them fall anyway.”

“Gabriel said…he said he was nothing more than pagan now,” Sam told him. 

“That makes sense. If he took in the essence of a pagan when he ran from heaven, giving up his grace wouldn’t give up those powers too,” Cas said thoughtfully. 

“What the hell happened?!” Dean said impatiently. 

“I prayed until it annoyed him so much he came to tell me off. I told him what was going on and that we needed his help. I told him it was his responsibility to help since he was the most powerful being in the world and then he just…did this and told me to fix it myself,” Sam said nervously.


	3. Chapter 3

Gabriel, now only Loki, transported himself to his brother. The only one he would claim. The only one he still COULD claim, and he felt himself collapse as soon as he landed. That was stupid. His grace had been the only thing holding him together. His pagan essence had been in far worse shape. He was surprised he even made it here, but that was definitely his brother’s face looming over him, looking worried. Loki couldn’t make out the words, or any sound beyond a dull roar, but he could see Thor’s lips moving and his face was growing more concerned by the moment. 

Thor jumped off the throne, startled, when he felt the incoming transportation. No one should be able to get directly into the throne room save himself and…Loki! He jumped to his feet and knelt over his fallen brother. He seemed so weak. “Loki? Are you okay? What’s wrong?” He noticed that Loki didn’t seem to be hearing him so he turned to the nearest council member. “Summon the healers immediately!” He turned back to his brother. “It’ll be okay, Loki. You’ll be fine. The healers are on their way.” He glanced up. “WHERE ARE THE DAMN HEALERS!?” 

Thor was definitely thrown for a loop. He hadn’t seen his brother for years. Not since their trip to Monte Carlo. Loki had been trying to get him to let loose and grieve in his own unique way before they took the throne and the responsibility of Asgard on their shoulders. He’d looked for Loki for a long time after he disappeared, but he finally came to the conclusion that Loki was running. He had a habit of doing that whenever the prospect of responsibility came up. He was beginning to realize that he was wrong though. He should have trusted Loki’s promise not to run this time. He should have kept looking. Whatever happened to him must have been bad. Thor immediately swore vengeance on whoever had hurt his brother. They would see the full might of Asgard fall on them as soon as he got the info from Loki. 

 

“So, what now?” Dean asked, finally coming to terms with all this. 

Sam plopped down on the chair. He would have expected he would feel stronger with the grace of an archangel, but he just felt weak. “What’s wrong with me?” he asked Cas worriedly. “I feel like I’ve gone ten rounds with a werewolf.”

“Gabriel’s grace…your grace…is damaged from the captivity. It is still very fragile, and I would imagine that transferring it didn’t help much,” Cas told him. 

“But he’ll be okay right?” Dean asked worriedly. 

“In time, yes,” Cas told him. 

Sam closed his eyes and nodded gratefully to Cas for the information, but felt sick with himself. Gabriel had still been suffering so much, and Sam just kept piling on and asking more and more of him. He wasn’t surprised that Gabriel lashed out like this and threw all that suffering at Sam instead. He couldn’t help but feel that he deserved it. “What do I do? I mean…I don’t even know HOW to do anything with this,” Sam said helplessly.

“You will need to learn to control your powers, but first, you need to connect yourself to heaven. Let it pull power from you to sustain itself,” Cas told him. 

“I don’t know if I have enough power to stand, much less power heaven,” Sam said weakly. 

“You will. Once you are connected, it will strengthen you as you strengthen it. It won’t do much for the damage or the pain. That will take time, but it will renew your strength at least,” Cas told him. 

Sam took a few deep breaths for calm. “Okay. How do I do that?” 

“The portal to heaven is closed, but your wings are intact, unlike mine. You can fly there,” Cas told him. 

“Okay but HOW?” Sam asked impatiently. 

“I am…unsure how to explain. You must simply…will yourself there,” Cas said with a shrug. It was something like trying to explain to an adult human how to walk when they couldn’t even find the balance to do so. It was something that angels learned so young that it was almost instinctive. Sam definitely had his work cut out for him. 

“You know what…screw this…Gabriel!” Dean called. The least the asshole could do was be here and help Sam learn how to use the powers he’d thrown at him. 

Sam winced heavily and put his hands to his head. “Damnit Dean. Not so loud!” he snapped before his eyes widened and he looked up. “I…um…how did I…” Sam stammered. He’d heard Dean in his head too. He closed his eyes and tried praying for Gabriel only to cry out in pain and grab his head again at the horrible…he could only call it feedback…that crashed over his mind. 

“You just tried praying to Gabriel didn’t you?” Cas asked sympathetically. Sam managed a weak nod. “When he gave you his grace, it gave you everything. Including his connection to prayers. For all intents and purposes, you ARE Gabriel. Praying to yourself is…not pleasant.”

“You can say that again,” Sam muttered, vowing never to do that again. 

“So you’re saying we can’t even contact the bastard?” Dean asked incredulously. 

“Perhaps we can contact him as Loki. That is all he will be now. He is no longer Gabriel at all,” Cas said sadly. 

“Okay fine…LOKI!” Dean called, but he didn’t get a response. He cursed the archangel…former archangel…not realizing that he was, at that very moment, unconscious and fighting for his life in Asgard. 

“It’s okay, Dean. I’ll figure this out. Just gimme a bit,” Sam said tiredly. “I just…need to rest a while first.” He tried to get to his feet, swaying a bit before he found his brother and Cas on either side supporting him. They got him to his room and he promptly passed out in the bed. 

When Sam woke up the next morning, having slept straight through almost sixteen hours, he still felt weak but not dangerously so. The pain was still there though, and he guessed it would be a while before that went away. He shuffled his way towards the kitchen, looking for Cas. He knew that the seraph was a bit out of his element coaching him, but they would have to muddle through somehow. He found the angel and his brother sitting at the table, heads close together as they seemed deep in conversation. “Sammy!” Dean said loudly as he noticed him. “How are you feeling? Better?” 

“Little better, but still like crap,” Sam said plopping into his seat. He was no stranger to pain, but this constant ache like he was burning alive from the inside out was wearing on him. 

“We need to get you to heaven,” Cas told him. 

“Don’t you think we should be more worried about Sam than heaven right now?” Dean snapped irritated. 

“I AM worried about Sam, Dean,” Cas said defensively. “Gabriel never lost his connection to heaven. He had that much to sustain him, even if it was only a one-way connection. When he transferred his grace to Sam, that was lost. He is only going to get worse the longer it takes to re-establish it. On top of everything else, he is essentially falling right now, and I don’t know if he can survive that in his state.”

“But you want to set up a two way connection?” Sam asked curiously, ignoring the way Dean blanched at Cas’ words. He wanted to know how that would be different. 

“Yes. When Gabriel was thought dead, Michael cut heaven’s side of the connection to him. Once you are ‘reconnected’ so to speak, no one will be able to cut that side of it. It will change nothing for you, but everything for heaven. Think of it like a continual loop. Your grace will strengthen heaven which will in turn strengthen you. Gabriel was pulling the strength from heaven, but it couldn’t pull from his grace,” Cas explained. 

“But it won’t hurt him?” Dean asked. 

“No. It will not. In fact, it will help. As heaven gets stronger, so will he. It may even speed the healing of his grace a bit.”

“Then why wouldn’t Gabriel do it?” Sam asked curiously. 

“I cannot say for certain, but I would imagine that the need to take the throne was part of his reasoning,” Cas told him. 

“So, he would rather keep suffering than help his family? Nice,” Sam scoffed. He didn’t know why he was surprised and he completely ignored the pang in his heart at even more evidence of Gabriel’s selfishness. “So let’s work on getting me to heaven.”

“Hold up a sec. You’re telling me that Sam has to take the throne of heaven?!” Dean said wide-eyed. 

“It is the only way,” Cas told him. 

“So my brother will be the leader of heaven?” Dean asked, trying to wrap his head around all this. 

“It’s not like there’s many left to lead,” Sam pointed out. 

“Still…” Dean said. 

“Well while you process, Cas and I have work to do. I can already feel myself fading again,” Sam told him, turning back to Cas. “Okay, so help me out here. Tell me anything you can about flying. What does it feel like? How does it work? How do I even know where to go?”


	4. Chapter 4

Cas explained as much as he could on the mechanics of flight and what it felt like. Unfortunately, he couldn’t be anything but vague, but he did his best. Explaining where to go though…that was a different story. “I can guide us, but you will have to be the one to fly,” Cas told him. “Once you’ve been there, you’ll be able to go back and forth, but I don’t know how to explain where to go. It’s not exactly on this plane of existence.”

“Okay,” Sam agreed. He knew that he’d gotten as much as he could from Cas, so it was up to him to figure it out from here. He felt Cas’ hand settle on his arm, presumably to be able to guide him once he was flying, but Sam appreciated the comfort it offered as well. Dean was watching like a hawk, but was smart enough to keep quiet as his brother tried to figure it out. It took nearly an hour, during which time Sam looked like he was trying to lay an egg more than once before Dean heard a whoosh of wings and he was sitting alone in the kitchen. 

Sam and Cas landed in a long non-descript hallway. “This was as close as I could get us to the throne room. Once you’re bonded to the throne you’ll be able to come and go from there directly though,” Cas explained. 

Sam wobbled on his feet a bit, and Cas reached out to support him. Sam was surprised to find another angel at his side. “Thank you, Indra,” Cas said. “We must get him to the throne.” They half carried the hunter turned archangel to the throne and helped him to sit in it. The throne began to glow brightly as the other angels in heaven filed into the room, having felt the presence of an archangel as soon as they arrived. 

Sam closed his eyes as he felt himself fill with warmth. It wasn’t unlike when Gabriel had given him his grace, but not nearly as harsh or painful. He could feel his strength returning, but with the return of his strength the deep down burning pain that he was beginning to associate with his fractured grace became more prominent. He could deal though. He WOULD deal. There was too much to do. Once he felt like he could do so, he opened his eyes and started a bit when he noticed the eleven angels kneeling in front of him. Even Cas was kneeling. 

“Gabriel. You have returned to us,” one of them said. 

“Um…yeah…not exactly,” Sam said apologetically. “You are…” 

“Duma,” she told him. 

“Right. Duma. See, I’m not Gabriel,” Sam started to explain. 

“I can see your grace. You are Gabriel,” Naomi said confused. 

Sam fought the urge to glare at her. This angel he knew. They couldn’t afford to lose any more though. Not as few as they already were. He would definitely be keeping a close eye on her and make it clear that even though he wasn’t technically Gabriel, he was still an archangel and could kill her if she crossed a line. “Gabriel had…um…other things to do…so he gave me his grace so that I could come here and help.” 

“He gave it to you or you stole it,” one of the angels accused suspiciously. 

“Do you really believe a human could overpower an archangel to begin with, much less steal his grace?” Cas asked pointedly. 

“His grace is obviously damaged,” another of the angels pointed out. 

“Okay, here’s the thing,” Sam interrupted the brewing argument before it could get out of hand. “Gabriel was held prisoner and tortured for a long time by Asmodeus. We rescued him, put him back together, and told him what all was going on. He couldn’t handle dealing with it after everything he went through, so he gave it to me so that I could fix things.” He knew that he was playing Gabriel’s motives up a bit, but he didn’t think they would take kindly to hearing about how selfish the archangel really was, so this was the way to go for now. 

“He speaks the truth,” Cas told them. “Gabriel was…severely injured by Asmodeus. We weren’t even sure that he would survive for a while.”

That didn’t seem to help the situation much. It wasn’t like Cas was at all trusted by the remaining angels after all, but Jophiel jumped in. She couldn’t be certain they were telling the truth, but after Lucifer’s rather dramatic fall from grace she needed a new horse to back. “I believe him,” she piped up. “The idea that a human could damage an archangel’s grace to that degree is nothing but insulting, and I don’t think it would be possible to fully transfer grace to that degree without cooperation. Gabriel gave him his entire identity. Stealing powers would be one thing, but he couldn’t have stolen that.”

The other angels could see the wisdom of her words, at least. She was still on thin ice after her backing of Lucifer, but it had been made clear that she had done so to save heaven and save their species. Once it became clear that he couldn’t or wouldn’t live up to his promises, she had abandoned him for the sake of her people. That meant something at least. Not like Castiel who consistently abandoned his people for the sake of humans. “Who are you then?” Indra asked curiously. 

“I’m Sam.”

“Sam Winchester?” a murmur spread through the remaining angels. That would explain Castiel’s involvement. 

“Yes. I’m Sam Winchester. I know how you all feel about me, and I can’t say that I’ve had the best of relationships with you either. I didn’t ask for this job and I don’t particularly want it, but I’m what you’ve got, and you have my word that I’ll do the best I can by you. I know how important heaven is and I don’t want to see angels go extinct, no matter our difficulties in the past,” Sam assured him. 

“So, you will make new angels?” someone asked. 

“Honestly, I don’t have a clue if I can or not. Or how to do it, even if it’s possible. If I can find a way, then yes. I will. Right now, I’m more concerned with keeping heaven stable and keeping this world from being overrun by the angelic armies from the other world. Hopefully, when all that is over, we can work the rest out, and maybe by then Gabriel will even feel up to taking over. He’ll know more about what can and can’t be done than I do,” Sam admitted. 

The angels weren’t exactly happy with his words, but they clearly appreciated his honesty. Cas gave him a pointed look and Sam waved him forward. Cas leaned over and whispered, “Your brother is praying rather urgently.”

“Is he in trouble?” Sam whispered back. 

“I don’t believe so. He just seems worried,” Cas told him. 

Sam sighed. “How long do I have to stay here to keep heaven and myself strong?” 

“At least half a day, each day,” Cas told him. “It would not be advisable to leave yet.”

Sam nodded. “I understand that the portal to heaven was closed?” he addressed the angels. 

Naomi stepped forward. “It was. The power needed to keep it open was deemed unnecessary. Once we learned that Gabriel could return, it was decided to conserve as much power as possible while we waited.”

“Now that I’m here, could it be opened again without hurting anything?” Sam asked. 

“It could,” Naomi told him. 

“Please do so. Cas will need to go back and forth for a while,” Sam told her. 

“Understood. It will be done immediately,” she said with a bow before turning to Cas. “You’ll be able to travel in about twenty minutes.” 

“Do you need assistance?” Cas asked her.

Naomi glanced at Sam. Her first instinct was to tell Castiel what he could do with his assistance, but he was obviously important to their new ruler. Their only hope for survival. She would play nice. “That would be appreciated. Thank you, Castiel.”

Cas nodded. He too saw the wisdom in playing nice. They were all that was left. They had to learn to work together if they were to survive and he trusted their fear of alienating Sam to keep him safe. Once they were gone, Indra stepped forward. “If you like, my lord, I could assist you in learning your powers. I was once a teacher of young seraphs. I understand the powers of an archangel would be different, but…”

“You’re the closest thing to a qualified teacher I have, so thank you…Indra right?” Sam asked, getting a nod in response. “And you don’t need to call me, my lord. That goes for all of you. Just Sam is fine.”

“Thank you, Sam,” Jophiel said as she stepped forward. “I’m rather familiar with how things work here and the administrative responsibilities, not that there are many left to administer. I’d be happy to help you there if you like,” she offered. 

“Weren’t you working with Lucifer?” Sam asked, recognizing her from the motel where they cornered Lucifer. 

“I was. He offered us salvation. He was a fraud,” she said ashamedly. 

Sam narrowed his eyes at her. He didn’t trust her as far as he could throw her. He didn’t exactly trust any of them really other than Cas and his long-time friend was definitely not an administrator. “I would appreciate the help…on a trial basis,” he told her. If he found someone else who could do it that he could trust more, he wouldn’t hesitate to replace her. The next little while was spent with the rest of the angels introducing themselves and explaining their duties until Cas came back to tell him that the portal was open and that he was heading back to Dean. Naomi was guarding the portal for the moment until Sam decided on a replacement for her. When Duma volunteered, he sent her to relieve Naomi to return. He still needed to find where she fit in this whole organization and he needed to have a private conversation with both her and Jophiel, making his intentions and his expectations perfectly clear.


	5. Chapter 5

Once Cas landed in the sandbox, he stepped away from it and pulled out his phone. “Hello, Dean,” he said wearily. He had been starting to get a headache from the hunter’s constant prayers. 

“Where’s Sammy? How is he?” Dean asked. 

“Sam is still in heaven. He is doing better, as is heaven. The angels have accepted him as their leader and he’s getting things in order there.” Cas resisted the urge to sigh. One would think they’d been gone for days instead of an hour. 

“Just because he had to take the throne doesn’t mean he should be put to work. He should be resting,” Dean said frustrated. 

“He does have to be put to work, Dean. There is much to do and too few people to do it,” Cas told him. “While he is being recharged by heaven, he cannot leave the throne anyway. He will need to be there for at least half a day, every day. He no longer has any need to sleep, though he should still avoid strenuous activity which, I assure you, I will keep him away from,” he promised. 

“You better take good care of my brother,” Dean warned. He hated having to be away from Sam when he was hurt. 

“I will always do my best, Dean. You know that,” Cas said defensively. 

“I know, Cas. It’s just…I can’t be there and…” 

“I understand,” Cas said sympathetically. 

“So, I had another idea. Since Lucifer doesn’t have heaven backing him anymore and Sam’s an archangel now…once he’s up to it, it might be easier to take on Lucifer for his grace rather than risk hurting Sam by taking more from him,” Dean suggested. 

“That could work,” Cas admitted. “I’ll suggest it to him. Would you like me to stay near the portal so I can go back and forth easier with messages while he’s in heaven?” 

“That would be great Cas. Thanks buddy,” Dean said gratefully. 

“Very well. I will get back to him now and discuss your idea. If you need anything before I call you back, just pray for me. The portal is back open now so it won’t take as long for me to respond.” 

“Okay, Cas. Sounds good.” 

 

While Cas was checking in with Dean, Sam dismissed everyone but Naomi and Jophiel, but he did tell Indra not to go far. Once this was handled, he needed to start on dealing with his powers. “Now, I know that I haven’t had good experiences with angels in the past, and both of you have betrayed me at some point.” He held up a hand when they both started to speak. “I’m not finished yet. You’ll have your say when I’m done.” He waited until he got nervous nods from both of them before he continued. “Despite all that, we are far too few to let old grudges cause division. I don’t trust either of you. Really, the only angel I trust is Cas, but you two are all the way at the bottom of the trust scale. That said…you will have a chance to earn my trust, same as everyone else here. You just have further to go, and I will be watching you more closely. I want to make it clear now, that while I have no interest in ‘ruling over’ the angels, I AM in charge here. You will not play games or attempt to undermine me in any way. There will be no brainwashing, no manipulations, no fomenting rebellion. This is the way things are and you will accept it. Understood?” 

They both nodded. The most important thing right now was saving their people, no matter what it took. They had thought they couldn’t get any lower before Lucifer, but once they ran him off and heaven started to fail, they realized where their priorities lied, and it wasn’t with their wings or with their numbers. It was keeping heaven together. 

“Good,” Sam said with a nod. “From this moment, all grudges, including against Cas, are in the past. We ALL have to work together here and learn to trust one another. I will do what I can, but I can’t do it alone. I will need help from everyone here, including you. Can I count on you?” 

“You can,” Jophiel said clearly. She could see that he was the right horse to back this time. He may not be offering them their wings or to make new angels, but he was offering them honesty. He was offering to try. He was offering them everything he could give, and it was the best they could hope for at the moment. 

“I agree. I have always done what I felt necessary to protect my people. This is no different. You are our only hope and I will follow your lead,” Naomi added. 

“Thank you both,” Sam told them. “You can return to your duties and send Indra back in, please.”

Indra came in with an armload of what looked like children’s books. “I took the liberty of visiting the library and pulling out the books on using and controlling your powers. I apologize that they are children’s books, but that is all there is,” he said sheepishly. 

“That’s alright Indra. I know this is a rather special situation. Perhaps it would be worth looking into creating adult versions of these books though. If we do find a way to create more angels, they will need the help too,” Sam suggested. “In the meantime, I will work with what we have though,” he said as he took the offered books from the angel. He was sure that the language would bore him to tears, but they may still be helpful. 

Before anything else could be said, Cas returned. Sam could tell from the look on his face that he wanted to talk to Sam alone, so Sam asked Indra to come back in a few hours. He would see what Cas needed and then spend the rest of the time looking through the books and try to get as much of a head start as he could. Once they were alone, Cas told Sam about Dean’s plan. Sam thought about it for a few minutes, before he said, “That could work. I don’t think I’ll be strong enough or skilled enough to take him on my own though. I’ll have to talk to the others and see if they can or will help. My only concern is that if it doesn’t work, we could all die and heaven would be lost forever.”

“That is a danger, but giving your own grace, in the state it is in, would be a similar danger,” Cas pointed out. 

Sam felt a pang in his chest at the thought of that. Remembering that was exactly what they had been asking of Gabriel without even thinking about whether it would be safe for him or not. Without even letting him recover first. He put the thought out of his head. He couldn’t deal with that right now. “I see your point. Actually, now that I’m thinking about it, he could be useful in more ways than one. If we can get to him and take his grace, it could be used to open portals to the other world to rescue Mom and Jack, and I could keep him here, as a human, and force him to teach me how to use my powers,” Sam considered the matter. “Despite the risks, I’m liking this idea. Get back to Dean and tell him to keep an eye out for Lucifer, but don’t do anything yet. Just contact you and you can let me know.”

Cas nodded in a slight bow, and headed out to do just that. Sam spent the rest of the time before Indra’s return going back and forth between reading the books and considering the possibilities with this new plan. He wasn’t going to pitch the idea to the others until he had the details worked out in his own head. He was both surprised and not surprised to find that meditation was the foundation of controlling his new powers and spent the last half hour meditating before Indra came back. 

The next few hours were spent attempting to coach him into finding and accessing his grace. Sam didn’t make much progress, but Indra assured him that it wasn’t uncommon. It would take time. Unfortunately, Sam wasn’t sure how much time they had. Indra called a break after a few hours though, telling him that pushing too hard was detrimental to the process. He did recommend continuing to meditate though. It would help him get into the needed state of mind faster when they tried again. “Can I ask you something?” Sam asked before he left. 

“Of course,” Indra said turning to face him. 

“I don’t mean to offend, but I am curious. If you need more angels, can you not simply reproduce?” 

“It is possible for us to do so, but angels age much slower even than humans, and are far more fragile and vulnerable as infants. To do so in our current state, when we couldn’t protect them well enough, would be worse than extinction. A piece of our grace would reside in our children. They would quite literally be a part of us, and if they were to be lost, part of us would die with them. We need stability and more numbers before we can consider reproducing, and even then, it will be a long time before we have enough angels for heaven to function normally again,” Indra explained. 

“I understand. Thank you for explaining it,” Sam said sympathetically. He now had a new goal. One day, Indra would have more children to teach. They would get through this mess and he would find a way to fix all of it.


	6. Chapter 6

By the time the next morning came around, Sam knew he needed to head back to the bunker and spend some time with Dean before his brother went out of his mind. First, he needed to address the angels though. He called for everyone to come to the throne room, and pitched the idea of taking on Lucifer. Their first thought, just like his, was what if they fail. “We would lose everything if we fail. Heaven. Our lives. We would be truly extinct,” Naomi said worriedly. 

“I know. But what’s to stop Lucifer from picking us off one by one. I’m nowhere near where I need to be to stand against him alone. He could take me out as easily as he could any of you and you know he’s not happy about being kicked out of heaven again. I don’t see him stopping. We can either stand against him together, or let him kill us alone,” Sam pointed out. 

“I have what may be a rather unpopular suggestion,” one of the angels from the back said hesitantly. 

Sam looked at him and said, “I don’t think we can afford to throw away any suggestions off-hand, unpopular or not. What’s your suggestion?” 

“Without a valid claimant to the throne, many of our old treaties have fallen to the wayside in recent years. Perhaps we could see about building some goodwill among our old allies and reviving them so they can help us with Lucifer,” the angel said nervously. 

Sam pondered that for a moment. “I can see the merit in that idea. I would like to look over the old treaties before any decisions are made though.”

“It will take time for us to find them. Much has been misplaced in all of the reshuffling,” Conrad told him, being the angel in charge of file storage.

“That’s okay. I was going to head back to earth for a while and talk to my brother. Do you think you can find them by this evening?” Sam asked, getting a nod. “Good. Then you can have them ready for me when I get back and I’ll look over them.” They understood the dismissal and Sam had Cas stay back. “I’m gonna try and fly to the bunker instead of using the portal and driving.” 

“That would be more efficient,” Cas told him, but wondered if he could pull it off. Still, he took Sam’s arm in anticipation. 

Sam was reasonably confident of his ability. Flying was the most basic of the powers and he’d spent quite a bit of time meditating. Plus, he’d already done it once. How hard could it be to do it again? It ended up being harder than he anticipated, but easier than the first time. It was only about half an hour before they disappeared from the throne room and found themselves standing next to Dean as he stumbled, half-asleep down the hallway. Sam had to admit that the near heart attack that his brother had when they popped up was more than a little hilarious. 

“So, how’s it feel to be the big man upstairs?” Dean asked wryly, once his heart slowed to a normal rhythm. 

“It’s big,” Sam said gravely. “One mistake and I could be responsible for the extinction of an entire species not to mention all the souls in heaven being lost. How do you think it feels?” 

Dean paled a bit, but nodded. He couldn’t imagine the weight on his brother’s shoulders right now, but if anyone could bear it, Sam could. “But you’re going after Lucifer?” he asked to confirm. 

“Yeah. He’s not just going to let it go. If we don’t face him together he’ll pick us off individually, and it’s going to take a lot more time than we have to get me ready to face him one on one. Even if we didn’t need his grace, it’s the smart move.”

“Just remember we do need his grace so make sure you don’t kill him until we get it,” Dean told him. 

“We won’t,” Sam promised. He knew what the alternative was if he failed at that part of the mission. Given the fact that the constant burning alive sensation hadn’t even stopped yet, he was not looking forward to damaging his own grace even more if it was needed. 

Sam spent the day with his brother before heading back to heaven that evening when he started feeling weaker again. Hopefully they would have found the treaties by then and he could get to work. His hopes were founded, and he settled onto the throne with a relieved sigh, feeling the strength filling him again, as he was handed a large stack of papers. He went through the treaties with the fae, the giants, the demons, until he saw a treaty with the Greek gods. His eyes widened at what that could mean, and he frantically flipped through the rest of the papers, looking for something in particular. There it was. The Norse pagans. He figured that was the best bet. They had taken in Gabriel after all, so they would be more likely to be willing to help the angels. 

This treaty he read completely, pulling every little complexity from it before he set it aside and grabbed a blank page and the pen he was also given. He began to pen a note to Thor. He remembered that Odin had died at Elysian Fields, so assumed that Thor would be in charge now. He asked for an audience to discuss the treaties, explained that he was the rightful ruler of heaven, though he admitted to himself that he was using the word rightful very loosely. The throne answered to him though, and that was what counted. It was morning before he received a reply. The would be meeting the next morning for a discussion and they could each bring one aide. There was no question that Sam would bring Cas. The seraph may not be much of a diplomat, but he was the only one Sam truly trusted not to stab him in the back. 

Sam, once more, spent most of the day with Dean before returning to heaven in the evening. He wanted to be at his best for the meeting with Thor the next morning, which meant soaking up the energy of the throne all night. He was getting better though. At least strength-wise. The pain was still just as strong as ever, but he didn’t feel half dead by the time he got back to heaven this time, so that was an improvement. Once the sun started to rise, he managed to fly himself and Cas, with little incident, to the clearing that they decided on as neutral ground. “Thank you for agreeing to meet with me,” Sam said with a respectful nod. 

Thor returned the nod. He would hear what the angel wanted before he laid out his demands. He was here for one reason and one reason only. To help his brother. Whatever this angel wanted, that would be the demand. “What is it you wish of Asgard?” he asked, getting straight to business. 

“Heaven is in dire straits and Lucifer is a great threat to us. We are too weak and too few to take him on alone. I was hoping to bargain for assistance,” Sam said bluntly, realizing with Thor’s question that he wanted it that way. 

Thor looked at him appraisingly for a moment. “Your power is a match for him, but you are injured. There is something familiar about your power,” he said. 

“Yeah, that’s kind of a long story,” Sam told him. 

“I have time,” Thor said crossing his arms. He wasn’t about to commit troops to this battle without knowing everything he could.

Sam got the hint that it was a requirement if this negotiation was to continue, so he decided to bit the bullet. He wasn’t sure if Thor knew about Gabriel’s identity though, so he would leave that part out. “I wasn’t always an archangel. In fact, that’s a very recent change. There was another archangel, Gabriel, who was captured and tortured for a very long time by a particularly nasty demon. When we rescued him and managed to put him back together, I told him about the situation in heaven. They were dying and when they did, all the souls in heaven would be thrown back to earth with nowhere to go. After his ordeal, he didn’t feel up to fixing anything, so he gave me his power so I could fix it,” Sam told him. “I’m still getting used to it for one thing, but it was damaged severely in his captivity too which isn’t helping. That’s the main reason we need your help.”

Thor knew exactly who Gabriel was and that explained why the power felt familiar. Loki hadn’t often let that side of him show, but it had happened more than once when he was particularly angry or emotional. “So you just took his power? Knowing that there was a chance that it could hurt or even kill him?” Thor thought back to the position his brother had arrived in, and was sure that losing his grace was a big part of why he was in such bad shape. 

“I wasn’t exactly given a choice,” Sam said defensively. “He didn’t even ask me. One second I was telling him about the situation and asking if he could help and the next second he’s got me shoved against the wall and I felt like I was burning alive and then he told me to fix it myself and left. I didn’t even know what he’d done until Cas here noticed.”

Thor relaxed at that. He still hated the situation, but it wasn’t this man’s fault. It definitely sounded like something Loki would do. He got back to the main point of this meeting. “Lucifer killed my father. He nearly killed my brother, and yes I know who he was. For that alone, I’m inclined to help, but if you can heal my brother, I will commit all my troops to your fight.”

“Heal him? Ga-Loki? What’s wrong with him? He seemed okay when he left me,” Sam asked worriedly. 

“He made it to Asgard only to collapse. Our healers have done all they can, but he’s still slipping away. They think that it was only his grace that was holding him together after his ordeal and the loss of that accelerated his condition greatly. He has been in a coma since shortly after he arrived. The healing power of an archangel, even of a seraph, is far greater than anything we are capable of. If anyone can save him, you can. You do this for us, and Asgard will stand by your side in this battle,” Thor told him.


	7. Chapter 7

“We’ll help him,” Sam said quickly. 

“Be careful, Sam. You can’t be sure that we can. He might be too far gone,” Cas cautioned him. 

“I don’t care. Failure isn’t an option here, Cas. We will save him. No matter what. Even if it means taking the grace from me and giving it back to him,” Sam said firmly. 

“You can’t!” Cas exclaimed. “He’s made it clear that he won’t return to heaven. If you do that, then all the angels will die. Heaven will fall. It will be the end.”

“And none of that matters if Ga-Loki dies here. Do you really want to buy your freedom with your brother’s life?” Sam asked. He would sacrifice anything and everything to save Gabriel. 

“You care for him,” Thor said tilting his head to look at Sam curiously. He’d known exactly who this was even before the other angel said his name. He’d known as soon as he learned how he came into his powers. There was only one being in the universe that Loki would give everything to. The human hunter that had his little brother tied up in knots for years. 

“No…I just…we need him alive. That’s all,” Sam tried to backtrack, but Thor just gave him a knowing look and dropped the subject. He’d seen enough, and was planning a course of action that might just give his brother the happiness he’d always wanted. If he survived that was. “Can you take us to him?” 

“I will. But know now…if you harm him, I won’t hesitate to kill you,” Thor warned. He didn’t think it was strictly necessary, but one couldn’t be too careful.

“I understand,” Sam told him with a nod, reaching out his hand to Thor’s shoulder and motioning for Cas to take his other one. A moment later they were standing in a room with two people leaning over a bed, one mopping the brow of the man laying there and the other with glowing hands over his chest. Thor motioned them away and Sam held back his gasp. It wasn’t worse than when they’d got him from Asmodeus, but it was pretty bad. He certainly looked on death’s door. “Go ahead, Cas,” Sam told him. He didn’t trust his own healing ability enough to try. Not unless it was a last resort. Thor said that even seraphs could heal better than they could, so he would give Cas a shot first. 

Cas stepped up to the bed, no less affected by Gabriel’s condition than Sam was, but hiding it better. He reached out a hand to Gabriel’s forehead and the other to his chest. His hands glowed blue for a long moment before he stepped back shaking his head. “He’s too far gone. It’s beyond my ability,” he said sadly. 

Sam closed his eyes against the pain he was feeling and then looked to Thor. “I don’t know how to give him his grace back. Can you help me?” 

Thor shook his head. He’d been considering this possibility since Sam mentioned it. “I could, but I won’t.”

“What? You want your brother to die?!” Sam said desperately. 

“No. Of course not. But he gave you his power of his own free will so that you could save his family when he couldn’t. To take it back from you would be like dishonoring his last wishes, and I won’t do that.”

“He gave me his power so he didn’t have to be bothered to help. So that I would stop asking him to. He doesn’t care about them,” Sam pointed out. 

Thor just shook his head sadly. “You really don’t know him at all, do you,” he practically whispered. “No. You will have to heal him. Find that power inside of you and use it. The seraph may not be able to, but you can. I know you can.”

“I don’t know how,” Sam said feeling his eyes welling up with tears.

“Then figure it out,” Thor snapped impatiently. “You’re his only hope.”

Sam took a few deep breaths. He was so sick of being the only hope. He was the only hope for heaven. He was the only hope to stop Michael. He was the only hope against Lucifer. He was the only hope to get them to the apocalypse world. Now he was the only hope for Gabriel. It was too much on his shoulders. He didn’t know how much more he could take. He wondered if this was how Gabriel felt. If that’s why he gave him this power. Because he was sick of being the only hope for people. He wouldn’t blame him. It was so overwhelming. Sam felt a steadying arm on his shoulder and looked back to see Cas. “You have to look deep inside you. Pull the power from all the way down. It helps if you think of any fond feelings or why you’re doing it. You can do this, Sam,” Cas said encouragingly. 

Sam took one more deep breath before he stepped forward. “Yeah. Okay. I can do this,” he said as much to convince himself as anything else. He mimicked Cas’ position with one hand on Gabriel’s chest and the other on his forehead. He closed his eyes and let all of his fear and worry float away. He dug down as deep as he could, trying to access his grace as he thought about Gabriel. He thought about that absolutely infuriating, but downright sexy waggle of his eyebrows when he was playing games with him. He thought about that beautiful laugh that just pulled him in like a drug. He thought about the determination he saw when he was getting them out of that hotel. He thought about the trust he’d seen in Gabriel’s eyes when Sam was trying to patch him up after Asmodeus. He thought about how Gabriel had taken out the bastard when he tried to kill Sam and Cas. The fury in his eyes. The power he radiated. He thought about everything that made Gabriel who he was. Even the selfishness and cruelty. Most of all he thought about how much he loved him, despite everything he’d done. Everything he was. He loved him and he wasn’t going to let him die. Not like this. 

Sam didn’t notice the scream that pulled from him as he accessed his grace, but he sure felt the fire. He’d felt a twinge every time he flew, but that was nothing on this. This was burning hot. It felt like he was being ripped in two. No more than two. It felt like he was being ripped into a hundred pieces. It was agony. He didn’t let it stop him though. He just kept pumping his power into Gabriel as much as he could. Right up until Cas pulled him away. Then he could feel how raw his throat was, and the pale faces in the room clued him in on the fact that he’d been screaming. He wasn’t surprised, but, “I can heal him some more,” Sam said trying to pull away from Cas despite barely being on his feet. 

Another hand on his shoulder from Thor stopped him though. “You’ve done enough, Sam. He can heal on his own from here.”

“But…”

“It’s fine, Sam. Really. There’s no need to torture yourself for more. He’ll live. That’s the important thing,” Thor assured him. If it was easy for him, Thor would have let him continue, but with the agony he was obviously in, he couldn’t in good conscience let it continue any longer. Loki would wake up in a few days and be good as new in about a week if he was understanding the chatter from the healers correctly. That was enough. “Thank you for saving him.”

“Of course,” Sam told him as if it was never in question. Part of him wanted nothing more than to dive back in and keep healing him until he was as good as new, but he knew that Thor was right.

“I’ll have the military fully ready in two days. You can find a clearing we can lure Lucifer to away from bystanders and the bait to get him there,” Thor told him. 

“What’s the plan?” Sam asked since it seemed like Thor had one. 

“The preliminary plan, assuming all goes well which we can’t bank on, Lucifer shows up, we have the clearing surrounded and blast him with everything we’ve got from all sides. Once he’s down and not getting back up you can go in for the kill,” Thor told him. 

“We can’t kill him. At least not yet. I need his grace for a spell. I haven’t decided what to do with him once he’s human, but I’m thinking about keeping him locked up and making him teach me how to use these powers,” Sam told him. 

“Why not just ask Loki?” Thor asked curiously. 

“Because he won’t stick around long enough for me to even ask much less to help,” Sam said annoyed. 

“That would put a bit of a damper on things,” Thor admitted. “I’ll work on him on that subject. It’s safer just to kill Lucifer once you have what you need. Even human he can be dangerous.”

“That’s true,” Sam said. “But if I kill him and then Loki won’t help…”

“Then you can figure it out. There’s no way to even know that Lucifer wouldn’t steer you wrong anyway, even if you can tell the truth from a lie. He’s sneaky enough to mess you up anyway,” Thor pointed out. 

“Okay. You’ve sold me. I take the grace and then Lucifer dies,” Sam said. It hadn’t taken much to convince him really.


	8. Chapter 8

The angels were glad to hear that they had the entire Asgardian military backing them up. In their minds, that feat alone justified their acceptance of Sam as their leader. He’d learned since his little healing stint that the more grace he used the more pain he was in. He wondered how Gabriel kept from screaming in pain when he took on Asmodeus. That surely took much more grace than healing. As a result, he was keeping with small easy stuff until his grace healed some more. At least he knew from Cas and the other angels that it was healing. Just very slowly. At the current rate it would be two months or more before it was healed then another month or two for it to build up to normal levels. 

They arrived in the selected clearing two days later, now that Sam was recovered from healing Gabriel. He met Thor in the center to go over plans before they laid the bait for Lucifer, all of his angels at his back. “This is all you brought?” Thor asked with a raised eyebrow. 

“This is all there is,” Sam told him. “All the angels in existence are here in this clearing.”

“But…how could their numbers get so low? Are they even warriors?” he asked looking them over. 

“I’m a secretary,” Conrad told him. 

“I’m a teacher,” Indra said. 

“Send them home,” Thor told Sam. 

“They can still help,” Sam pointed out. 

“I won’t gamble an entire species on this venture. Especially not when at least half of them aren’t even warriors. I would send you home too if we could do it without you. What good are nine half trained people going to do that my two thousand fully trained warriors can’t. No. Send them home. Keep something safe if we fail here today,” Thor told him. 

Sam just nodded. Thor made sense. He turned to the angels and said, “Go back to heaven. I’ll see you soon.” He was sure he didn’t imagine the relief on some of the faces when they left. Well, all but one. “Cas?” Sam asked. 

“I will not stay behind while you go into battle. You are my brother Sam, and I will die before I will leave you alone here. I AM a fully trained soldier, and even if I could stomach leaving you, your brother would never allow it.”

Sam looked to Thor who shrugged. “Good enough.” If this angel was a fully trained soldier, then he would at least be useful. “Now for the bait,” he said as he looked questioningly at Sam. 

“He won’t be able to resist another archangel throwing up a beacon. He’ll want to know who else is able to stand against him. Especially if he thinks the Michael of the other world found a way here,” Sam told him. 

“Michael of the other world?” Thor asked with a raised eyebrow. “I would definitely like to hear that story when we are finished here.”

“Maybe I’ll tell it to you if we survive,” Sam said with a wry smile. He couldn’t help but like Thor, despite him being a ‘monster’. 

Now that he knew the last of the setup, Thor was able to modify his plans to account for that. “You go ahead and set up the warding to keep him from flying away. Once you sense him coming you fly over to the warding and activate it as he arrives leaving him alone in the field. Then we will start our attack,” Thor told him. Sam nodded and headed over to a large tree behind Thor and cut his hand with a regular blade so that he would bleed blood rather than grace and began to draw the warding. He had to redo the cut six times thanks to his self-healing abilities, but he got it done and then headed to the center of the field. He waited for Thor’s signal and then went into a meditation. He’d learned that when he touched his grace in meditation that it sent up a beacon without having to use it and risk putting himself out of the fight before it began. 

Once he did that he waited for a moment before he flew over to the tree. It was less than a second later when he hit the warding and yelled, “Now!” Sam’s jaw dropped at the blasts of power being thrown through the clearing. Lucifer wasn’t out of the fight just yet though. He got hit with the first round due to his attempt to fly away rather than fight, but it didn’t put him down. Not enough at least. Even while he was getting slammed, he was snapping his fingers, incinerating a dozen soldiers with every snap. As they fell, others stepped up to take their place. By the fourth blast, Lucifer was on the ground and barely moving. Thankfully, it seemed that he didn’t even have the strength to snap anymore. Sam ran over to him, not daring to cut the warding and pulled his new archangel blade. He grabbed a jar from his pocket and ran the blade across Lucifer’s throat, letting the grace fill the jar that had been prepared for it. He didn’t waste a second before running the blade through Lucifer’s chest right after. 

It was a few minutes before it hit him that it was over, and he sat heavily on the ground with a sigh of relief. Thor and Cas walked over a moment later and Sam looked up and pulled himself to his feet. “I’m sorry about the people you lost,” he said sympathetically. 

“They all knew the risks coming in. Every one of them volunteered for this mission anyway,” Thor told him. He wasn’t going to take on a fight that wasn’t his with troops that didn’t want to be there. As soon as they realized they were going after Odin’s killer, no one wanted to be left behind, and it was their choice. 

Sam nodded. It didn’t make it better, but he understood. “Still. If there’s anything we can do for you or their families, let me know.”

“I will. Thank you, Sam,” Thor said with a grateful nod. There was something he needed, but not yet. 

“No, thank YOU Thor,” Sam countered. “How’s Loki?” Sam asked. 

“He is healing. He should wake within the day and be as good as new within the week,” Thor told him. 

“That’s good. If there are any complications, call me,” Sam told him. 

“I will,” Thor promised. He didn’t want Sam to torture himself to heal what could be healed on his own, but he wouldn’t let his brother die either. He doubted the situation would come up though. 

“We should return to heaven and let them know it is done,” Cas told him. “And then we need to take the grace to your brother.”

“I don’t think we should take the grace to heaven,” Sam told him. “I just have a bad feeling about that.”

“You may be right, but the angels need to know that you survived,” Cas said not sure what to do from here. 

“I’ll drop you at the sandbox and you can let them know while I go to Dean. I’ll help him get the grace separated and the spell set up, and then I’ll be back to heaven. Just let them know I had some errands to run first,” Sam told him. Cas nodded so Sam took his arm, after a final farewell to Thor, and dropped Cas at the sandbox on the way to the bunker. 

Rather than fly straight to his brother, Sam flew to the library. As amusing as it was seeing his brother jump ten feet in the air, he wasn’t going to take any chances when he was carrying the grace. Once he landed he reached out his senses looking for Dean and found him in the living room so he headed that way, calling his name as he approached the room. “Sammy!” Dean said pulling his brother into a hug. He knew exactly what was going on today and hated being left behind. “You did it?” he asked stepped back and looking Sam over for injuries. 

“We did. Thanks to Thor and his army. Lucifer’s grace,” Sam said holding out the jar. “I figure that’s enough for about twenty trips back and forth if we need it.”

“Nice,” Dean said appreciatively, taking the jar gingerly. It took them a good hour to get the grace separated into the smaller containers for the spell, and if it took more than a few tries, they would have to get more fruit from the tree of life and make a trip to visit the priest for more blood. He had told them that if they needed more, he would be happy to help, but they were good for now. 

“I’d suggest taking the ingredients for one run of the spell with you so you can close the door on the other side to be safe and just call a new one when you’re ready to come back,” Sam told him. Now that they didn’t have to ration, it would be better that way. The last thing they needed was for Michael’s troops to find the open rift and end up on this world. In the bunker even. Sam stuck around long enough to help Dean set up the spell and watch him go through. He silently wished his brother luck and wished he could go through with him. Even if he could leave heaven though, with his grace as damaged as it was he wouldn’t be much more than a liability. He wouldn’t be able to resist doing whatever was necessary to help people, even if it killed him and it just might.


	9. Chapter 9

Once Dean was on his way, Sam flew back to heaven to see a lot of relieved faces. A lot being relative, of course. “Lucifer is fallen. He can no longer harm any of us,” Sam told them, despite knowing that Cas would already have done so. It would make it more real coming from him. 

“What is to be done with the earth now?” Naomi asked. 

“I’m sorry?” Sam asked confused. 

“After Lucifer’s death, the winner of the battle was to remake the earth in their image,” she told him, realizing that he didn’t know the prophecies. 

Sam resisted the urge to get angry and counted to ten in his head before responding. To her credit, Naomi seemed to realize that she had messed up, and looked rather contrite when Sam looked back at her. “This is a very different situation than the apocalypse. For one thing, the world is still in once piece. There is nothing to put back together. More than that, Hell is still functioning and they won’t take lightly to us trying to kick them out. Unless you think we have the ability to go to war with hell and wipe them out?” Sam asked sarcastically, getting a whole group of shaking heads. “That’s what I thought. We need to worry more about heaven than earth.” Their power levels were stable with Sam’s presence, but still far from where they needed to be. Only the control center and the section with the souls currently had power. Everything else was still in a blackout so all the angels were limited to this building, which wasn’t exactly comfortable. Sam had no idea where to begin fixing it though. 

Once he was left alone, he turned his mind to that problem. Maybe if they could get Jack back he could help. His power was even greater than Sam’s. The problem with that was giving someone so powerful access to heaven. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Jack. He did to a point, but the kid had proven to be somewhat naïve and easy to manipulate. Even if he confined him to heaven, there were enough elements here that he didn’t trust that could use Jack against him. Besides, that idea counted heavily on getting the Nephilim back from apocalypse world in one piece and Jack being willing to help in the first place. Who knew what being in that place was doing to him, even. He’d seen stronger people corrupted by less. No, he couldn’t risk counting on Jack. He needed another plan. But what?

 

Sam wasn’t the only one working on the same problem, but Thor was coming at it from a different angle. One that he could only put into motion once his brother woke. After the battle, he sat at Loki’s bedside, waiting for him to wake up. The healers had told him that it wouldn’t be long now. He hadn’t realized how much of their prosperity was tied to Loki’s grace. He realized, since his brother had given it up, that a large amount of their power reserves must have been funneled from heaven. They were looking at starvation soon if something wasn’t done. He doubted that Loki realized that fact either or he wouldn’t have been so quick to give it up. Still, he knew what he needed, but he didn’t think he had enough to offer to get it. Not yet. He needed to talk to his brother. Get more information. And he would have to handle this delicately. 

The thunder god had only been sitting there for less than two hours before he heard a groan and Loki began to stir. He reached out for his brother’s hand to comfort him as he pulled himself into the painful waking world. It was a few more minutes before Loki’s eyes creaked open and he said, “I’m alive?” in a completely baffled tone. 

“You are,” Thor told him. “We had some help. What were you thinking giving up your grace like that when you were so weak?” 

Loki’s eyes widened and he looked pointedly at the two healers in the room before glaring back at his brother. “They are under an oath of secrecy in addition to their healer oaths. They couldn’t exactly treat you if they didn’t know what was wrong,” Thor told him. 

“Help from who?” Loki croaked. 

“From the one you gave your grace too. He was able to heal you past the brink of death before we stopped him. The pain it was causing him was considerable. He still wanted to keep going though, but none of us were comfortable with it once we knew you were going to recover,” Thor told him. He was trying to get the idea in his brother’s head that the hunter turned archangel could possibly feel something for him. 

“Probably just needed me to sacrifice myself for something else again,” Loki scoffed. Thor just shook his head. They were both idiots and it seemed that despite their feelings for each other, neither of them really knew the other. He wasn’t going to waste his breath though. That was for them to work out. His self-appointed job was to put them into the situation where they had no choice but to work it out. 

“It may interest you to know that we took down Lucifer. He is no longer a threat,” Thor told him. 

“You couldn’t have…Only an archangel can…”

“True. But an archangel can have an army backing him up in the process. If you weren’t so stubbornly independent, we would have done the same for you. The army took him down and Sam made the killing blow after getting his grace for some spell they needed,” Thor told him. 

Loki breathed a silent sigh of relief. At least they wouldn’t have to use his…Sam’s…grace. He knew how horrible that was, and wouldn’t wish it on anyone. “This fight…how many were lost?” Loki asked worriedly. That was the main reason that he’d never involved the pagans. It wasn’t ONLY stubborn independence. He didn’t want to be responsible for their lives and he knew there would be casualties. Probably high casualties. 

“Forty-seven,” Thor told him. “I only took volunteers, but the fact that Lucifer killed Father meant that nearly every soldier volunteered. They knew the risks and went willingly.”

Loki closed his eyes as he let the information sink in. That was less than he expected, but still too many. “Anyone I know?” 

“I don’t believe so. If you’re interested, I can get you the list tomorrow though,” Thor offered. 

“Why not now?” Loki asked, knowing that Thor already had it. 

“Because today, you rest. And we talk,” Thor told him firmly. “Tomorrow you can worry about our people.” Loki nodded reluctantly. Thor decided to see if his brother had anymore information about the current state of heaven. “You should know that Sam seems to be doing a good job of keeping heaven running, despite how few are left. He brought them all to the battle, but I sent them all home, save one little seraph that refused to leave Sam’s side.”

“That would be Cassie,” Loki said knowingly. 

“Castiel was his name, yes. They seemed eager to close this flank of attack given that they were expecting attack from another quarter. Something about an archangel from another world…” he said leadingly, knowing that if Loki knew anything about it, he would offer the information now that the subject was raised. 

“Apparently the morons somehow got their mother and a Nephilim they took a liking to stuck in an alternate timeline where the apocalypse went off as planned…mostly. Michael killed Lucifer but has been stuck in a never-ending war with hell since then with humans being caught in the middle. The entire planet is ruined and when Michael found out about this world, he decided that he had to have it for himself. He’s been trying to find a way to get here while the idiot Winchesters are obsessed with saving their mother and the Nephilim and keep opening the door to try and find them. It’s a mess,” Loki told him what he’d learned before he left. 

Thor nodded thoughtfully. This was just what he needed. The leverage to turn their heads. An offer they couldn’t refuse. He would need to wait a little longer before approaching the matter though. At the very least Loki needed to be fully healed and he couldn’t bring it up so soon after this conversation or his brother would see right through him. Thankfully, they had enough power reserves to last them another month before they would need to start rationing. He would have his plans in place by then.


	10. Chapter 10

As slow as the next week passed for Sam, worrying over a problem he couldn’t find a solution for and over his brother who had yet to check in from the other world, the week went much faster for Thor who was working on his own ideas to solve all their problems. There were a lot of details to work out and pawns to move into position. Finally, he had everything ready. Before he could put anything into motion though, his brother brought up a subject he wasn’t ready to talk about yet. 

Loki had been out of bed for a few days, but still rather weak. He had been up and around enough to notice a problem that his brother had failed to mention to him though. When Thor came to visit him that afternoon, he asked, “What’s going on with the power levels? Why are they getting so low?” 

“They’ve been steadily dropping for the last week and a half,” Thor told him, waiting for his brother to make the connection. 

“You mean…my grace…it was…” 

“Apparently we were pulling power from heaven thanks to your connection,” Thor confirmed. 

“I…I’m sorry, Thor. I didn’t know,” Loki said, pained. He could try and get his grace back from Sam, but that would be putting his other family in danger. He never imagined he would have to choose which family to save, but he knew that if push came to shove, it would be the pagans. They were the ones who had taken him in when he had no one. They were the ones who stood by him through thick and thin. Even when they were pissed at him. 

“Don’t, Loki,” Thor warned. He could tell by the look on his brother’s face what he was thinking. “It wouldn’t have mattered what you did. Heaven was failing. Our power had been decreasing for a long time and we only recently figured out why. Our added drain was pulling them further down when they could least afford it. They would have failed soon anyway and we still would have been in this same position,” he explained. He’d had a little more time to think about it, after all. “It’s not that big of a deal. I’m working on a new treaty arrangement that will get us what we need and then some.”

“What kind of treaty arrangement? With whom?” Loki asked. 

“You’ll see,” Thor told him. He really hadn’t wanted to go into this with Loki until he had everything set up. His brother wouldn’t take well to being kept in the dark. “I don’t want to jinx it before everything is signed.” He hoped that would help. 

Loki just nodded. He had too much on his mind right now to quibble over it. He figured it was with some being that operated in a powered dimension but had no need for the power themselves like the giants or the jotun or the elves. Either way, Thor would tell him what, if anything, was required of him when the time came. 

When Thor left Loki, he sent a note to Sam asking for a meeting. It didn’t take long for him to receive a reply. They would meet the next day in the clearing where they had battled Lucifer. Thor arrived to find Sam already waiting for him. “Loki? Is he…”

“He’s fine,” Thor cut off his worried question. “But we could use your help with another issue. And I believe we can help you with your most pressing issues as well.” 

Sam raised an eyebrow and said, “I’m listening. Start with how we can help you.”

“Since Loki gave you his grace, we realized that a great deal of our power had been coming from heaven. We are on the verge of starvation if something isn’t done,” Thor told him. 

“Heaven can’t spare any power right now,” Sam said sadly. “We’re still running on fumes ourselves.”

“I understand that. But there is a way that our people can be connected in the same way as the angels. Instead of just pulling the power from heaven, our power can help renew it as well. There should be more than enough to go around that way.”

“So your people would basically take over heaven?” Sam asked distastefully. He definitely didn’t want to go there. Not while they were stable at least. If it was a question of heaven falling and all the souls being expelled then yeah. He would definitely consider it, but not now. 

“No. Not at all. We are happy in Asgard and have no intention of taking over anything. If you wish for some of us to live in heaven to help out, I’m sure I could find some volunteers willing, but we aren’t asking for that. The only thing we’re asking to share with heaven is the power,” Thor assured him. Even if he wanted to take over heaven, he knew that would never be on the table. 

“Beyond the power sharing, what rights would that give you as far as heaven goes?” Sam asked. He wasn’t going to throw away the idea off-hand, but he wasn’t going to jump into something that could end the angels either. 

“Only what you choose to give us. We have no interest in taking advantage of the situation. That said, it brings us to another way we can help you. This connection would allow us to enter heaven, but we would only do so on invitation. If this Michael attacks, we can have troops at your back within minutes, and will happily assist where we can. After all, if heaven changes hands, our arrangement would come to an end and that wouldn’t be good for us,” Thor sweetened the pot. 

“And what would stop your people from attempting a coup yourselves?” Sam asked suspiciously. He did like Thor and they had worked well together against Lucifer, but for all Sam knew the god had been playing nice for this very purpose. 

“If it would make you feel better, I would make a binding oath. As the ruler of my people, they would all be bound to the same oath, and should I ever be deposed or killed, as heaven’s leader, you would have the ability to cut our access until or unless a new agreement is reached and new oaths given by the new leader, not that it is likely to happen. Our society is very stable in that way and only my father’s bloodline can access the throne. Unless one of my kids decides to overthrow me, which they never would, I will be on the throne for many millennia to come.”

Sam considered the matter. With a binding oath keeping them from taking over, could he really say no to the infusion of power and military assistance? He knew that if Michael attacked he would bring an army. Even if he did wait until Sam was healed and in full control of his grace, which wasn’t a given at all, they weren’t the slightest bit equipped to take on an army. “It seems like this would be a little more complicated than signing a treaty and giving an oath,” Sam said wondering where the catch was. 

“It is. It would require a binding marriage between the ruling lines of our two peoples. In other words, between you and someone of my father’s line,” Thor told him. 

“Binding marriage…” Sam said nervously. 

“It wouldn’t be an eternal binding. Those are never used for political reasons. A temporary binding. A hundred years is the standard. I know you were recently human, but you should know that a hundred years is but a blink of an eye now that you are as immortal as us. At the end of the hundred years we would all see where we stand and if we want to continue it with another binding with the same people or someone different.”

“So…I would have to marry someone…for a hundred years…” Sam tried to wrap his head around the situation. “But…who would I marry?” 

Thor resisted the urge to smirk. This was going to be the hard part. To lie to him without actually telling a lie that he would be able to sense. “I do have daughters, you know.” Not a lie. 

“You have…grown daughters?” Sam asked nervously. He got this mental image of child brides and wanted nothing to do with that. 

“Yes, actually. I do have one daughter that is still the equivalent of a teenager and not an option, but my other daughters are grown,” Thor told him. 

“And…they would have the option to say no?” Sam wanted to make sure that was clear. He had no intention of essentially raping some woman who had no choice.

“Of course. I would never force someone into marriage for any reason,” Thor told him. 

“Wh-who would I be marrying?” Sam asked, swallowing heavily. 

“There are traditions that, in a political union, the spouses do not know each other or see each other’s faces until the ceremony is complete,” Thor told him. It wasn’t technically a lie. Those traditions did exist. The Norse just didn’t use them normally. It was enough to get past the angelic lie detector though. 

Sam considered the matter for a moment. A marriage of a hundred years to save not only heaven, but the earth as well from Michael and his army. At least, he thought the earth was part of that deal. Best to make sure. “And if Michael attacks the earth instead of heaven. Will you still stand with me against him?” 

“Your enemies will be our enemies, no matter where they attack. In fact, we would even be willing to send a company through to this ‘other world’ and rescue your people stuck there,” Thor offered what he knew would be the final piece of the puzzle. 

That was the end of Sam’s resistance to the idea. So, he would have to put up with some goddess for a hundred years. It would save the world and save his family, both the old and the new. He would take it. “I assume you have a treaty drawn up?” 

“I do,” Thor handed it over. 

“I will look over this and discuss it with my advisors. We will also figure out the wording of your oath. Meet back here in two days?” 

“That is acceptable. I’ll see you in two days,” Thor said, shaking Sam’s hand before he left.


	11. Chapter 11

No sooner than Thor returned to Asgard, he was set on by his brother. “You had the treaty meeting?” 

“I did. The initial one, that is. They are looking over the formal papers and discussing it. We will meet again in two days for any changes that they want to make and hopefully to finalize everything,” Thor told him. 

“So it went well?” Loki asked hopefully. He would feel much better knowing that his family was taken care of. He’d already given his other family the best care he could, so now he just had to make sure that this one would be okay. 

“It did. They seemed receptive to the idea at least,” Thor told him. He had no intention of telling him about his impending marriage just yet. He would wait until after the next meeting, when his brother would assume that it was their demands not Thor’s offer.

“Good. That’s good,” Loki said relieved. 

By the time Sam and Thor met again, two days later, Sam had still not heard from his brother. Even if he hadn’t been decided yet, that would likely be what pushed him over the edge. It had been ten days since Dean disappeared into the apocalypse world, and he was going out of his mind with worry. Selling the idea to the other angels had taken a bit of doing. They had the same concerns Sam did about the pagans taking over, but letting them help with the wording of the vow they would take defused that situation. He wasn’t the only one who looked over the formal wording of the treaty proposition either. He actually had everyone look over it with a fine toothed comb, figuring the more eyes that checked it the less chances of something slipping through the cracks. They had a few minor changes. Nothing to the essence of the agreement, but clearing up some of the wording in spots. For example, where it said that none would enter heaven except by invitation of heaven, Sam changed it to by invitation of the leader of heaven. That way they couldn’t turn one of the angels or consider Sam’s new wife as part of heaven either. 

Thor looked over the changes and saw no problems, so he signed first before handing it back to Sam for him to do the same. Once that was done, it was time to make plans. “Nothing can go forward here until the binding is complete, and I would assume you want our people on the other side as quickly as possible, so I was thinking we could do the ceremony tomorrow at sunrise in Asgard,” Thor suggested.   
“I’ll have a company ready to transport as soon as the ceremony is complete and our power levels are stabilized.”

“That’s fine,” Sam said tightly. It was best to get it over with before he got the urge to chicken out. He was beyond nervous about being married to a stranger. Bound to a stranger even. For a hundred years. No way out. Well, no way out unless he gave up the throne of heaven that was. That would break the binding and the treaty. He had learned through the treaty and from Cas what it meant to be a part of a binding marriage. It would have to be consummated within four hours of the ceremony or the unfinished bond would kill them. After that they had to live together and spend at least half a day in the same room for the duration of the bonding, but they didn’t have to have anything more to do with each other if they didn’t want to. He could get through this, and in a hundred years, heaven should be stable enough to stand on its own if needed. 

“Excellent. The ceremony will take place in Asgard, followed by a short celebration before you need to consummate the union. You and your spouse will live in heaven, though it would be appreciated if you would allow visits to us,” Thor told him. 

“Of course. I wouldn’t hold her prisoner,” Sam promised. 

Thor nodded gratefully. Even if he knew that the first visit would not be very pleasant for him once his brother realized what he’d done. “Very well. Your clothing will be set aside for the ceremony when you arrive. Please arrive an hour before sunrise to allow time to prepare.”

“I will. I’ll see you in the morning,” Sam told him before flying back to heaven. He decided to spend a great deal of the day working with Indra and trying to keep his mind off of his impending nuptials.

Thor, now that he was alone, gave into the urge to smirk. Stage one complete. Time for stage two. He returned to Asgard and went looking for his brother. He found him resting in his suite. Loki was fully healed now, but was still having a period of adjustment to the lower power levels after giving up his grace, so he tended to rest fairly often. “How did the meeting go?” Loki asked as soon as he entered. 

“Everything is signed and set,” Thor told him. “But I will need your help.”

“Anything, Thor. You know that.”

“We need a binding marriage with their leader,” Thor told him. “He is under the impression that he’ll be marrying one of my daughters, but I would like for you to take her place.”

“That bad huh?” Loki asked with a wince. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d taken such a hit for the good of Asgard. It was how he’d found himself married to Angrboda after all. Not that he didn’t come to love her in time. That much was obvious given the fact that they had three children together, but it had been rough for a while before they found a balance. 

“No. Not really. He seems like a kind and caring person. You know my daughters though. They would be more likely to let him run roughshod over us to keep the peace. I need someone in there who can and will look out for our interests.”

“You know that without my grace, I can’t hold an illusion for more than a few hours. How will he react when he realizes that he’s been tricked and is bound to a man?” Loki asked. Normally he wouldn’t concern himself with the matter, especially for someone who was apparently attempting to blackmail his brother into selling one of his daughters into virtual slavery, but after everything he’d been through recently, he didn’t know how he would manage to deal with a hostile situation. 

“He won’t hurt you. That much is outlined in the treaty. Personally, I think he will be glad. I get the feeling that he would prefer a man and just doesn’t want to admit it. You know how giants are,” Thor said, giving his brother the impression that he would be marrying a giant so that he wouldn’t ask outright.

“Yeah. That’s true. He would need to keep up appearances in public, but I can live with that,” Loki said. As long as it was part of the treaty that he couldn’t be harmed, he would deal. He didn’t know if he could bring himself to fight back after so long of being conditioned not to by Asmodeus. 

“So, you will do it?” Thor asked hopefully. 

“The standard hundred years?” Loki asked. Thor nodded so Loki said, “I will.” He definitely wouldn’t let one of his beautiful nieces end up in a loveless marriage. Even if it was temporary. 

“Good. The wedding will be following the tradition of neither party seeing the other’s face or know the identity until after the ceremony and celebrations, so you only have to illusion your body and your voice. I’ll pull out the royal wedding gowns. The ceremony will be at sunup tomorrow.”

Loki groaned as he realized that he would have to wear a dress. “This is payback for Thrym isn’t it,” he grumbled. 

Thor laughed. “Maybe a little bit,” he teased ruffling his brother’s hair. He would never forget being dolled up to marry the cruel giant so that he could get his hammer back. He was relishing the opportunity for payback here, but that was only a bonus. His main goal was giving his brother his happily ever after. In the hundred years they were forced to be together, they would have to talk things out at some point and realize how they felt and learn to see each other for who they really were. They would have a chance to remove the blinders, and he had a feeling that was all they really needed to figure things out.


	12. Chapter 12

Thor watched amusedly as his daughters fixed Loki’s hair that he had grown all the way down his back. Loki only considered himself lucky that their faces would be covered so he wouldn’t have to wear makeup. The tiara and heavy veil would be bad enough. Especially when considering the dress too. He’d planned some minor modifications to his body. Just enough to fit in the dress, and of course, make his hands a bit more feminine as the only part of him that would be showing. He’d add a few curves and grow some breasts, but that was it. Those modifications should be minor enough that he would be able to hold them until the end of the celebration. He was definitely reverting back to his own body before the consummation though. There were some lines even he wouldn’t cross. Just before he began the modifications and put on the dress, his brother handed him a drink and he tossed it back quickly, not even bothering to ask what it was, his nerves were so great. He missed his brother’s smirk as he wobbled a bit on his feet. The way alcohol affected him was still taking some getting used to without his grace. That must have been a strong drink to hit him so hard so fast. Little did he know that his brother had laced it with a mild perception altering drug that would wear off in a few hours. Loki would see exactly who he expected to see at the altar. 

Sam nervously paced the chambers he’d been led to on his arrival. He had already dressed in the robes set aside for him and was just waiting for the ceremony to start. By his reckoning there was only a few minutes left when the door opened and Thor came in. “You ready for this?” the god asked him. 

“Yeah. I think so…I mean…I’m good,” Sam stammered, trying to hide his shaking hands. 

“Good. You should put your hood on. It’s almost time to start,” Thor told him and Sam nodded, pulling the thick hood over his head. He felt like an executioner with it on, but it did hide his features quite well. He had an aide that had already walked him through the ceremony so he knew what he needed to do and when. The only worry was him actually getting past his anxieties to remember when the time came. He was a bit surprised, and also a bit relieved, that there would be no kiss to seal the ceremony. He would kiss his new wife’s hand at the end to signal his acceptance. At least their first kiss wouldn’t be with an audience. Thor looked him over and pronounced him ready so he headed out the door. 

Sam resumed his pacing for the next five minutes until the music started and he took a deep steadying breath and headed out the door. He stopped in front of the altar waiting for his bride, and trying to hide his apprehension. It wasn’t long before he heard the music change and she came out and Sam’s breath caught in his chest. He didn’t know what it was about her…he couldn’t even see much of her…but something was drawing him in. He hadn’t felt anything like this since the first time he met Gabriel…Loki. He was suddenly sure that he could make this work. It didn’t make him any less nervous, of course. If anything, it had the opposite effect, but he did feel better about the idea now. 

Loki tamped down his nervousness, glad that he had a lot of experience at masks as he heard the music change calling him out. He knew that his soon to be husband was waiting out there, and part of him wanted nothing more than to turn tail and run. His brother needed him though. His people needed him. He had to go through with this. Maybe it would turn out like Angrboda and he could come to fall in love with this man too. He had been just as terrified at that wedding as he was at this one, so it wasn’t like it was anything new for him. He stepped out and rounded the corner, getting his first look at his new husband. He was a little on the short side for a giant, but not by much. Maybe he was just young. Giants tended to grow for a few more decades after they reached adulthood after all. At least he knew his brother well enough to know that the giant would at least be an adult. Thor would never set him up to marry a child, no matter what was at stake. 

Sam automatically took his bride’s hand when she reached him and went through the ceremony in a daze. He barely noticed as the binding cord was wrapped around their hands. He barely felt the burn as the binding took. He didn’t notice any of the chanting around them as Thor presided over the ceremony, and when he was prompted he lifted her hand to his lips and pressed a soft kiss there. 

Loki noticed that his new husband had barely been present during the ceremony. He hadn’t thought he’d made his body that enticing. Especially with all the layers he was wrapped in, but apparently it was plenty for this giant. Maybe he’d never seen a goddess before. Giant women were built very differently after all. That must be it. The tenderness of the kiss to his hand at the end was enough to calm many of his fears about the man’s temperament. It seemed that Thor was right about him being kind and gentle. 

Sam couldn’t help the soft smile that graced his face as he led his new wife back up the aisle. He knew that he had a few hours to go still before he could see her face, but he hardly cared right now. Right now he was celebrating the fact that he was married. Part of him wished that his brother could have been here, but the other part of him knew that Dean would never have let him go through with this. As scary as it was, this was a new beginning for him. Maybe it would be a better one. It couldn’t get much worse. He heard the slow music start as he led her to the dance floor. He wasn’t exactly a good dancer, but he had plenty of coordination. He would manage. 

Loki had to hold himself back from leading. It was made even more difficult by his new husband’s lack of skill. It was taking all of his willpower to let himself be led clumsily across the floor, but he managed to get through the dance. He wasn’t eager for more though. He was glad the meal was after his next dance, and he planned to drag it and the mingling out as much as possible to avoid it. Once his husband knew who he was, he could insist on leading from now on, but as long as he thought he was a goddess he would have to deal. Loki’s next dance was with Thor and he, once again, had to let Thor lead, but at least his brother was a good dancer. Loki didn’t mind that so much. 

Sam watched his new wife glide across the dance floor with her father and found himself smiling at the sight. She was certainly graceful. Hopefully he hadn’t disappointed her with his skill too much. Somehow the fact that he hadn’t seen her face made him more comfortable with the situation. He was sure he’d be back to a stuttering mess when he could, but for now, he was enjoying himself. Thor returned her to him once the dance was over and Sam led her to the high table for the meal, wondering how she was going to manage to eat with all those veils on, hiding her face. He got his answer when she sat and draped them over the plate so the food was under there with her. He barely kept himself from laughing at the sight, but managed somehow. He was pretty sure he pulled a muscle in the attempt though. 

Loki ate slowly, savoring every bite, and it was only partially due to trying to drag it out. The food in Asgard was always amazing, and he would miss it for the next hundred years. Thor told him that his new husband would allow him to visit, but there was no telling how often that would be or whether he would be able to enjoy a feast like this again. He could feel the giant’s questioning eyes on him and figured he was eagerly awaiting the unveiling. The fact that his face was hidden gave Loki leave to smirk. Wouldn’t he be surprised. By the time he finished eating, there was only an hour before they needed to leave, so he made his way into the crowd, leaving his husband behind. This was going to be his last chance to see most of these people for a while and he wanted to say his goodbyes without an overbearing giant at his side. He knew that most of the people here knew who he was, much to his annoyance given his current appearance, but at least that meant that he could speak openly with them. 

Sam frowned as he lost his new wife in the crowd, but forced it out of his mind. These were her people. Her friends and family. He would give her time to say goodbye. He would have just liked an introduction though. It took a few minutes for his eyes to find her and they continued to track her after that as she moved effortlessly among the people, joking and laughing with most of them and giving hugs freely. She reminded him a lot of Loki in her demeanor, without the coldness that is, but given that he was her uncle that wasn’t really surprising. He quickly put that thought out of his head. He couldn’t think about the fact that he was now married to the niece of the man he loved. If he came to love her, it would need to be on her own merits. That thought would only hinder them. When the time was up, it still took him time to get to her and for her to wrap up her conversation with Thor. 

Loki started a bit when his new husband caught up with him. He could have sworn that he was taller and heavier before. Must be a trick of the light. Sam just placed a gentle hand on his back as a reminder that they needed to leave so Loki nodded and began wrapping up his conversation with Thor, careful to keep any hint of his true identity from the conversation. By the time they left, they only had less than forty minutes to consummate the marriage and Loki smirked under his veils. The less time he had to protest the better. 

Sam flew them back to heaven and turned to face her. He slowly reached out a shaking hand to remove the veils and tiara and get his first look at her face. He was so intent on his mission that he didn’t even notice her body changing as he did so. As soon as her…his…face was revealed, Sam dropped the whole bundle to the floor in shock. “Ga…Loki!” he exclaimed taking a stumbling step back. That explained the pull he’d felt and the similarities in their demeanors, but how…why…

Loki caught the stumble over his name and he got a sinking feeling in his gut. He took a few quick steps forward and pulled the hood from his husband’s head. “SAM!?”


	13. Chapter 13

Loki’s eyes darted around the room as if looking for escape before he realized that there really was no way out. He was well and truly trapped. “YOU? YOU are the one who demanded that my brother marry off one of his daughters?”

“What? I would never! This whole marriage was his idea. He said it was the only way. He suggested his daughter. Not me!” Sam argued. 

Loki was fuming now. “I am going to KILL him,” he snarled. “Let me see that treaty you signed.” 

“Um…I have no problem showing it to you and all, but I’m not so keen on the idea of dying if we don’t finish this and we’re kinda running out of time,” Sam said hesitantly, and he was suddenly a hundred times more nervous than he had been this morning. Not only was this the man he’d been dreaming of for over a decade, but he had never even been with a man at all. 

“Damnit,” Loki said running a hand through his hair as he turned to pace for a moment. He’d let himself forget that in the shock. “This is a freaking nightmare,” he muttered. 

Sam felt his throat close up at those words. He should have known that Loki wouldn’t be thrilled at being stuck with him, but a nightmare? When he was already planning on marrying a stranger? That hurt. “I know you hate me and all, but unless you have a way out of this, we’re just going to have to deal,” Sam said trying to keep his voice steady. 

Loki spun to look at Sam, hearing the little waver that he didn’t quite manage to keep out of his voice. “I don’t hate you, Sam. That’s not what I meant,” he said softly. “I just meant…” he was cut off by a warning pain in his chest. “Damnit. We don’t have time for this. Come here,” he said pulling Sam in and crashing their lips together. 

Sam immediately melted into the kiss. It was everything he ever dreamed of. It was hard and deep and dirty with a playful edge as Loki pulled back giving a little nip to his lower lip. Sam somewhat snapped out of his daze as he found himself pressed back to sitting on the bed as Loki straddled his lap. “H-hang on a sec,” he said breathlessly. 

“Hmm?” Loki asked, not pausing in his mapping of Sam’s neck with his teeth and tongue. 

“I-I’ve…um…never been with…with a man before…I don’t know…” Sam stammered, trying to keep his libido in control at least long enough to get that out. 

Loki pulled Sam’s earlobe in his teeth. “Shh. It’s okay. I’ll take care of everything,” he promised. As shitty as this whole situation was, one good thing came out of it at least. He got to be with Sam. Even if it was only once. He could deal with the rest later. Any chance of other thoughts flew out of his head the second their lips connected. He was just getting ready to lay Sam down when he realized a problem. “Crap. I’m gonna need some help getting out of this monstrosity,” he said getting off Sam’s lap and gesturing down at the dress. 

Sam couldn’t help but chuckle as he turned Loki around and pulled down the zipper, allowing him to step out of the main part of the dress. Apparently all the underclothes were a bit easier because Loki was back in his lap pressing him back on the bed as he started stripping out of some of the layers. “Remind me to make fun of you for this later,” Sam gasped out even as Loki found a particularly sensitive spot behind his ear. 

“Whatever you say, Sammykins,” Loki murmured as his lips found Sam’s again, kissing him with the same intensity as the first time. He finally managed to untangle himself from the last layer of his dress and removed it before his hands went to Sam’s belt, undoing it with practiced ease and throwing the robe open. 

As soon as the skin was revealed, Sam’s hands couldn’t stay still as the roamed over every inch of Loki’s golden tan. He could feel the god’s erection pressing against his own and he desperately wanted more. He had no idea what he was doing, but he didn’t care in the slightest. He would trust Loki to take care of him. When he was prodded to do so he sat up slightly and let Loki slide his robe off his shoulders, shuddering in pleasure at the feel of skin on skin. 

Loki moved his lips down Sam’s neck again and to his collarbone and down even further. He was keeping a close watch on the time. He wanted to draw this out. This was his one chance to have everything and he didn’t want it to end too soon. He had to be careful though that he didn’t take too long and risk killing them both. It was a delicate balancing act, and the reason that he nudged Sam’s legs apart before he got to Sam’s dick. He slid a slick finger inside the hunter turned archangel as he pulled the hard bud of Sam’s nipple into his mouth, nibbling and sucking on it. He preferred something else in his mouth when he started opening him up, but time was not on his side. 

“Oh, God,” Sam gasped a moan as Loki hit the sweet spot inside him. Loki couldn’t help but smirk against Sam’s chest as he continued his way down, moving his finger faster in and out of the taller man. It wasn’t long before Sam was ready for more and Loki dipped his tongue into Sam’s belly button, lapping up all that Sam had leaked. He waited until he was closing his lips on his prize before he slid a second finger inside though. Loki’s mouth easily distracted Sam from the burn of the insertion and the god felt a large hand tangle in his hair, pulling roughly as it urged him down farther. Loki just opened his throat and took it all reveling in Sam’s choking moans. 

Loki’s free hand moved to his own erection and began to stroke slowly. He had to get something here or he was going to go insane. Between his oral fixation and the sounds Sam was making as he sucked him down he knew that he wasn’t going to last long once he was in. His only hope was that if he could make this good enough Sam might come back for more one day. Going dry for a hundred years wasn’t fun after all. He was glad when he was able to slide a third finger into Sam. He could tell how close the new archangel was to the edge and the burn of that would pull him back just a bit. Sam needed to blow while Loki was inside him for this to take. He heard the hiss of pain as Sam was filled up even more, and went slowly at first, trying to both bring him back from the edge and let him adjust. 

It was a good while before Loki felt that he was as loose as he was going to get and he removed his fingers and slicked up his own neglected cock. He lifted Sam’s hips and sheathed himself quickly, knowing that was the best way to get it over with. Especially when they only had ten minutes left. Once he was in, he drew on every ounce of willpower he had to stay still. He leaned over and kissed Sam, slow and deep, using his thumbs to wipe away the tears that had escaped. “Sorry, Sammy. It always hurts a little the first time,” he whispered sympathetically as he waited for Sam to relax. He reached between them and took Sam’s cock in his hand, stroking slowly, trying to get his flagging erection back and get him back into the game. It didn’t take long at all for him to recover and start thrusting up into Loki’s hand, pulling his cock deeper inside. 

“Oh god…more…please,” Sam begged and Loki’s breath hitched. Both at the amazing feeling and the enticing words. Loki definitely had a thing for begging. He began thrusting in and out of Sam and it was far sooner than he would have liked when he felt himself reaching the edge. It was just in time though. They were cutting it close. Loki picked up his speed, both with his hips and his hand that was stroking Sam, making sure to hit Sam’s prostate with every thrust as the hunter fell apart beneath him. Loki felt Sam about to blow just as Sam breathed out, “Yes…Gabriel…” Before he even got a chance to consider the fact that his true name fell from Sam’s lips so easily, the clenching around him was pulling his own orgasm from him. Once he was spent, he collapsed on Sam for a second before managing to flop himself over next to him, trying to catch his breath, not even noticing the way Sam’s hand was still carding gently through his hair.


	14. Chapter 14

After he’d caught his breath, Loki snapped his fingers and clothed them both, missing the disappointment in Sam’s eyes as he did so. “Okay so NOW I’m going to go kill my brother. You need to check on heaven’s power and make sure it’s stable after that upset,” Loki said rolling out of bed and disappearing. 

Sam sighed sadly to himself and pulled himself out of bed too. Loki was right. He did need to check on heaven’s power situation. He was walking rather gingerly, partially from the soreness from the sex and partially because he’d been away for a while and was feeling rather weak after all the exertion. He plopped down on the throne and then winced. He really should have sat down more gingerly. He summoned Jophiel, still his ‘chief of staff’ until he figured out someone better. “What’s our power situation look like?” he asked as she entered. 

“I’m still getting reports, but it looks like we’re nearly back to full power. The standing blackouts over most of the city have ended so we can finally go back to our homes…with your permission of course,” she added. 

“I’d like to give it a day, just to make sure everything stays stable, but then yes. Of course, you can all go home,” Sam told her. At least his gamble had worked. 

Jophiel nodded. It made sense. It would suck for them to go home just to lose power again. “I’ll let everyone know,” she promised. 

“Good. Thank you. And keep me apprised of the situation. I’ll be here for a while longer,” Sam told her. “After that I’ll be in my rooms.” She nodded and left, so Sam called for Cas. “Have you heard anything from Dean?” 

“Not yet, no. I am getting rather concerned. I did detect the presence of a rift a short time ago, but it seemed to be outgoing instead of incoming. I was just getting ready to go and inspect it,” Cas told him. 

“It’s probably Thor’s people going looking for Dean, Mom, and Jack, but if you want to go check it out anyway you’re welcome to,” Sam told him. 

“Will you attempt to rescue Arthur Ketch as well?” Cas asked curiously.

“I left that up to Thor’s people. If he’s cooperative and hasn’t done anything stupid then he’s welcome to come back with them but they aren’t going to put themselves at risk hunting for him,” Sam told him. 

“I understand,” Cas said. He agreed with that assessment. Even the man’s rescue of Gabriel had been to save his own skin. He wasn’t worth the extra effort. “I am surprised to see you today. It is my understanding that people who are recently married enjoy spending time together afterwards,” the seraph said curiously. 

Sam winced at that. “Yeah, well, that’s when they WANT to get married.”

“Your wife is not pleased with you?” Cas guessed. 

“My ‘husband’ was tricked into marrying me and hates every second of it.”

“I didn’t realize you were marrying a man,” Cas said curiously. 

“Yeah well, neither did I. And to make matters worse…it’s Gabriel…well…Loki now, but yeah. He’s definitely not happy with Thor. Actually went to give him a piece of his mind. I think I’d hate to be in Thor’s shoes right now.”

 

Sam’s words may as well have been prophetic. Thor had just finished seeing off the group headed to the other side of the rift, having found a substitute for the seal of Solomon in the spell that Sam had given him. It would only allow the rift to stay open for ten minutes, but that was enough. No sooner than he turned around, he found himself shoved against the wall with his pissed off brother in his face. “You shit-eating moronic cretin! What the fuck did you think you were doing?!” 

“What I needed to do,” Thor said with a smirk, trying not to show how close he was to shitting his pants. 

“What you needed to do?!” Loki roared. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done to me?!” 

“Given you everything you ever wanted,” Thor said evenly. 

“What I wanted? You think I wanted it like this?! He had to be fucking TRICKED into marrying me!”

“Only because he’s as stubborn as you are,” Thor told him. “Any idiot can see that he’s head over heels for you, and we both know how you feel for him.”

“You’re delusional,” Loki snapped. 

Thor scoffed. “Yeah, like you’re one to talk. Did you even try talking to the man or did you just fuck him and run?” 

“I should kill you,” Loki snarled. 

“How about you go talk to your husband first,” Thor said resisting the urge to roll his eyes. He knew that was a threat that Loki would never follow through on. He might hurt him. Humiliate him, even. But he would never kill him. 

“I hate you,” Loki growled before he disappeared and went the only other place he had to go. Sam’s rooms. His rooms now too he guessed. He paced angrily as he tried to figure out where to go from here. He hated being backed into a corner and this was about the biggest corner he could possibly be backed into. Even if Thor’s idiotic ideas were right and Sam did care about him, which was completely absurd, it didn’t change anything. If anything, it made it worse. He couldn’t be back here. He couldn’t be with Sam. But how to get out of it. There was only one way to break the binding. Make Sam no longer the ruler of heaven. If he took his grace back that would work, but then it would put him in the position of taking the role and we were right back to the whole terrible idea. That or walk away and let heaven fall which would be even worse. No. He’d given them the best chance he could. He couldn’t take that away from them now. 

He considered breaking it from the other side, but that would involve Thor being deposed. That wouldn’t even break his binding to Sam. Just the rest of the treaty. All this would be for nothing then. No, he was well and truly stuck. So how to minimize the damage. That was about his only shot now. He wasn’t sure how long he’d been pacing before the door opened and Sam stopped short in the doorway just staring at him. “What?” he snapped after a moment. 

Sam tore his eyes away and looked at the wall. He hadn’t expected him back so soon, and seeing him standing there, pacing in Sam’s own bedroom caught him off guard. He supposed it was their bedroom now though. He would need to get used to Loki being around. “I’m sorry,” Sam said sadly and Loki’s head snapped up to look at him curiously. “I know you hate this. Being back here, being stuck with me, being thrown into this whole mess that you’ve spent so long running away from, and I’m sorry for the part I played, however unknowing, in trapping you here.” Sam steeled himself for the next part he needed to say, reminding himself that he wasn’t some weak human that could let an archangel push him around anymore. “But you ARE here now and it’s time to suck it up and deal with it. It’s time to start thinking about someone other than yourself and start trying to help other people for a change.”

Loki’s jaw dropped. That’s seriously what Sam thought of him? If he was being objective he would admit that he had reason to think that, but he was far from objective in this situation. “I NEVER think about myself, Sam. EVERYTHING is for them. I’m a screwup, Sam. I’m poison. I destroy everything I touch. I don’t stay away because I want to. I stay away to keep from destroying them any more than I already have!”

“But you’re fine ruling Asgard with Thor?” Sam scoffed, pointing out the holes in Loki’s story. 

“THOR runs Asgard. Not me. I was there for moral support only, at his insistence. Why the hell do you think I jumped at the chance for a way out? Why would I care about destroying the people that tried to force him to sell his daughter? But it was all a lie and now I’m stuck here to watch my family implode and there’s not a damn thing I can do about it!” Loki said heatedly turning to punch the wall so hard a hole went through it. 

Sam just stood there in shock for a moment as he let all that sink in. How had he been so wrong? Was he really that blind? He stepped over to Loki and put a hand on his shoulder, turning him around gently, taken aback at the tears falling from his eyes. “You’re not poison, Loki,” he said softly. 

Loki scoffed. “Of course I am. They’re in this situation now because of me.”

“How do you figure that?” Sam asked confused. He didn’t see how any of this could be laid on the former archangel. 

“I tried…twice…to stop the apocalypse before it started. I failed. Once it started, I tried to get it over with before too much damage was done, but I caved and found you another way. A way that ended up getting both Michael and Lucifer trapped in the cage, started a civil war in heaven, led to Raphael’s death, the release of the leviathan, the fall of the angels, constant battle…all of it stems from my failures.”


	15. Chapter 15

“You…tried to stop the apocalypse? How?” Sam asked curiously. 

“Seriously? You’re really that stupid?” Loki scoffed. “You really think you could have caught me at that college if I didn’t LET you? I wanted to give your brother someone to call instead of a demon when he needed it, and failing that, to tune myself to his and your prayers so that I would hear it and come before he went so far as to sell his soul. I failed. I couldn’t get through to him. I couldn’t hear his prayers. He sold his soul anyway.”

“I don’t…” Sam stammered as he tried to fit this new information into his worldview, but Loki just kept talking, rocking Sam’s world even more on it’s axis. 

“Once he sold his soul I couldn’t reach him anymore, but I thought maybe I could stop you. I could make you immune to his death. Teach you to live without him. Keep you from going to the demon blood and hunting vengeance. I mean, yeah, you would have assumed that you needed to kill Lilith to stop the seals from breaking at some point, but by then your brother would be back. He would be able to keep you off the demon blood ledge. It wouldn’t be about blind vengeance and you would be able to think clearly and spot the manipulations. At the very least, you wouldn’t have been able to kill her without the demon blood so as long as you had someone to keep you from starting down that path of vengeance we would be okay, but I caved. I let my feelings for you override everything I knew needed to happen. I broke there at the end and gave you your brother back, just because I couldn’t stand to see you in pain anymore. I failed again. I failed to save you. I failed to stop the apocalypse. I failed to protect my family.”

“Ga-Loki,” Sam said, tears glistening in his own eyes now. He’d heard enough. He reached out a hand to Loki’s cheek, but the god turned away from him and kept talking. 

“I just wanted it to be over. I wanted to pick up the pieces and move on. I wanted the fighting to be over and for my family to live in peace. Far away from me. So I couldn’t screw them up anymore. That’s all I wanted was for them to be happy. But then you gave me that look and I couldn’t walk away from you again. I couldn’t stand the disappointment in your eyes. I couldn’t stand the thought of you being destroyed by Lucifer. I decided to find another way. I shouldn’t have. It was stupid and sentimental and it ruined everything…”

Sam couldn’t listen to this anymore. He couldn’t listen to Loki beating himself up for Sam’s mistakes. He couldn’t stand here and let him take everything on his shoulders. He couldn’t hear how everything that he considered his greatest mistakes were born of loving Sam. He just couldn’t. He spun Loki around and kissed him desperately. Desperate to taste him. Desperate to let him know that his feelings were returned. Desperate for him to shut up before he ripped Sam’s heart into more pieces than he already had. Just desperate. 

Sam felt Loki melt into the kiss and he gripped him tighter. When they had to break for air, Sam rested his forehead against the former archangel’s. “Stop. Please. Just stop,” he whispered brokenly, tears still streaming down his cheeks. “It…it’s not your fault. It’s mine. And Cas’. And Dean’s. It’s not on you Ga-Loki. Please.”

“Sam…” Loki started to argue. 

“You told Dean back at that college that they got what they deserved. You tried to make friends with him. We wouldn’t listen. We were a little too black and white back then. He didn’t pray. Neither of us did. That’s not your fault. He screwed up. We both did. He went to a demon before considering anything else. You tried to tell me at Mystery Spot. You tried to reason with me. I wouldn’t listen. That’s not on you. That’s my fault. Not yours. You did all you could. You couldn’t have known what would happen with the cage. No one could have. Not even us. We tried to get Michael out of the way. He was never meant to be down there. The holy fire Molotov didn’t work as well as we thought. We didn’t expect him back so soon. It was pure bad luck that had him coming back at the worst possible moment. He reached out to pull me-Lucifer back away from the edge and lost his balance. It was bad luck. It was our mistake by misjudging how long he would be away. It was his mistake for trying to stop me from falling. There’s plenty of blame to go around, but none of it for you. Please…please understand that.”

“It’s not like it’s just that, Sam,” Loki told him, wanting him to understand. NEEDING him to understand. “Everything…way back to the beginning. I was never good enough. I was the whole reason for the feud between Michael and Lucifer in the first place. I messed everything up and Lucifer thought Michael was too hard on me. Once Lucifer fell, Michael…he blamed me, and he was right. He…he tried to beat the screw-up out of me, but I couldn’t take it. I ran. Then Odin took me in…adopted me. I wasn’t always a prankster you know. I just got labeled as one because I kept screwing things up and people accused me of doing it on purpose so I decided it was easier to embrace it.”

“Okay, so you make mistakes. Maybe even a lot of mistakes. We all do. Sounds to me like most of your mistakes are at least amusing for some people. Ones without a stick up their ass like Michael. Everyone has their faults Loki. They don’t define you unless you let them. It doesn’t make you a screw-up. You do plenty right. If you didn’t then Odin wouldn’t have loved you like he did. Or Thor. Or…or me,” Sam said biting his lip nervously at what he was revealing. 

Loki snapped his head up to look at Sam at that revelation. “Like you? You mean…”

“I love you, Loki,” Sam said in almost a whisper. “I always have. Since the moment we met.”

“But…”

“It almost killed me seeing what Asmodeus had done to you. You didn’t see what the basement of the bunker looked like after I left you in that room. I completely trashed it. I just couldn’t deal.”

“You just kept pushing me. All you wanted was my help with all this mess,” Loki told him. 

“No. All I wanted was for you to stick around. All that was just an excuse. I mean, yes. We did need your help, but my main motivation was to get you to stick around. I thought that needing you was the only way you would. I couldn’t just come out and tell you that I loved you and wanted you to stay.”

“It just hurt so much Sam. I couldn’t…couldn’t even use my grace without being in agony. I wasn’t any good to anyone,” Loki said sadly. 

“I know,” Sam said apologetically. “I see that now. You were broken, and I was just piling the whole world on your shoulders and I’m sorry, Loki. I am so, so sorry. I didn’t get it until you put me in your shoes and I didn’t even have the trauma part of it to deal with. It’s so much to carry. Being the last hope for so many. Having so much to do and not having any clue how to do it. I’d imagine it would have been even harder for you. You were used to being the most powerful being on earth. It wouldn’t have dawned on you to look for allies and ask for help like I did. I get it. I asked too much and offered too little when you weren’t even slightly ready to deal with it, and I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry too,” Loki said sadly. “I shouldn’t have thrown it all on your shoulders like that without even giving you any warning. I shouldn’t have shifted my pain to you.”

“No, it’s okay,” Sam assured him. “I’m glad you did. I’ll gladly carry it for you as long as you need. Your grace is healing. Slowly, but it’s getting there. It’s not so hard for me not to use it so it’s just a dull burning pain that I’m almost getting used to. It’s only when I have to use it that it gets unbearable and since I’m not used to having it and barely even know how to use it, I can carry it easier than you. I’ll take any pain in the world if it means saving you from it,” Sam practically whispered that last part. 

“I would take it back if I could. I acted impulsively. I don’t want you in pain any more than you want it for me,” Loki admitted. “It’s so fractured now that another transfer would probably kill us both though.”

“I don’t care. You can’t have it back anyway. I won’t let you. Not until it’s healed. Then, if you want it back, it’s all yours,” Sam told him. “You take care of the emotional healing. Let me take care of the grace.” Sam reached up a hand to brush across Loki’s cheek, trying to resist the urge to pull him in for another kiss until he knew that it would be welcome. 

Loki took a steadying breath at the contact and finally allowed himself to look up into Sam’s eyes. The pure love and devotion he saw shining there seemed to pull the words from him against his will. “I love you, Sam.” 

That was the end of Sam’s willpower as his hand slid to the back of the god’s neck and pulled him in for a soft, sweet kiss. “I love you, Loki.”

“I’m sorry,” Loki couldn’t help but say. “I’m going to destroy you and I don’t know how to stop it.”

“You’re still on that?” Sam said sadly. “You are NOT poison and if it takes me the next hundred years, I will get you to understand that.” He knew that it would take more than one conversation to get rid of something so deep, but he had time. At least he didn’t have to worry about Loki running. He would get through to him somehow. “For now, you know you’re stuck, so just let yourself enjoy it. Don’t borrow trouble. Okay?” 

“I’ll try,” Loki said, allowing himself to find comfort in his husband’s arms that tightened affectionately around him.


	16. Chapter 16

Sam pulled Loki over to the bed and laid them down, pulling his husband tightly to his chest and running his fingers soothingly through the soft sandy blonde hair. “I know you have to be here and all, but I won’t ask you to get any more involved than you want to be,” Sam promised. “I’ll take care of everything. I would very much appreciate it if you could coach me in using these powers though.”

Loki considered that for a moment. It was an acceptable compromise. As long as he limited his interaction with heaven they might manage to get through this. Sam was already doomed the second they bonded. “Okay. I can do that,” he agreed. 

“Good. Thank you,” Sam said gratefully, pressing a kiss to his husband’s head. “Can you tell me if I’ll be able to restore the angel’s wings or make new angels?” Sam asked, knowing those were their greatest two concerns. 

“You’ll be able to restore their wings for the most part. Basically, you’ll just be healing the scar tissue keeping them from regrowing, not actually giving them wings. That’s relatively easy but will take a lot of grace so you’ll want to let it heal first. As far as making angels…that’s a different story. It’s technically possible, but incredibly difficult and time consuming. It would take years of near constant work just to make one angel. It would be far easier to just make them the old fashioned way,” Gabriel told him. 

“They’re worried that in our current position, we wouldn’t be able to protect the babies,” Sam told him. “They have a good point.”

“They do, but you have a full alliance with Asgard now. I agree that maybe it should wait until this whole Michael business is settled, since he could still be a threat. Once that’s over with though, you will have the full might of Asgard at your backs. Thor takes his treaties seriously. Anything attempting to harm heaven or any angels will have to go through him. If things get dicey, he would even allow sanctuary for any families behind the walls and wards of Asgard until everything was settled,” Loki told him. 

“I haven’t discussed the matter with them since the treaty, but I will. Once the Michael situation is taken care of. I just hope he waits until I’m healed,” Sam said sadly. 

“That would be ideal, but you know you can’t count on it, right?” 

“I know. I may not be able to practice the fine points of using the powers right now, but I’ve been working on access my grace. At the very least I’ll be able to throw a massive amount of power at him and hope for the best. And I’m getting really good with the blade. If he comes before I’m ready, I’ll manage,” Sam told him. 

“I can help you practice. I know you’ve probably been working with Cassie, but an archangel is a whole different league. I may have lost the grace, but those skills don’t go away. I can even talk to Thor and see if he can spare some time to spar with you. He’s the only one in Asgard who can match me in a fight and it will give you a chance to see a different style in action and maybe even learn a few tricks that Michael won’t expect.” 

“That would be great, Loki. Thanks,” Sam said relieved. He had been working with Cas since the seraph was the last of the old soldiers, but even he admitted that he was no match for the likes of Michael. “So Thor is still alive then?” Sam asked amusedly. 

Loki groaned and turned his head into Sam’s shoulder. “I think I owe my brother an apology,” he muttered and Sam laughed. 

“Don’t worry. I’ll go with you to protect you from the big bad thunder god,” Sam teased before getting an elbow to the gut. Once he stopped laughing, he said. “We should probably go do that now if we’re going. It’s not often we get a quiet moment up here these days.”

“Yeah, okay,” Loki said petulantly. He hated eating crow. Especially with Thor. His brother would never let him live it down. 

Sam chuckled again and pressed a soft kiss to his husband’s lips before he got up. “Let me just go let someone know I’m leaving. I’ll be right back.” Sam had more than one reason to want to go with him to see Thor. He didn’t fully trust Thor. He was still a hunter at heart and Thor was still a pagan, but he trusted Loki. If Loki said Thor was on the up, he would accept it. 

Ten minutes later the two of them were standing in Asgard, and Loki took Sam’s hand and pulled him along, looking for his brother. They found him in his rooms eating dinner. Thor looked up, more than a little nervously at his visitors. He could handle his brother, but he’d tricked Sam too, and he didn’t know what to expect from this one. Only his certainty that Loki wouldn’t bring him here if he intended to hurt Thor too badly kept him from running. He was rather confused when Loki plopped his butt on the table next to Thor’s plate and started eating from it. “So, it’s come to my attention that I MIGHT owe you just a little bit of an apology.”

“For eating my food?” Thor asked confused, snatching his turkey leg back from his brother’s hand. 

“No. For my last visit. I might have been a little bit harsh,” Loki admitted, as he grabbed the hunk of heavily buttered bread since he had lost the turkey. 

Sam was biting his lip trying very hard not to laugh. Not only at Loki’s attempt at an apology, but at the resigned and annoyed look on Thor’s face as his food disappeared down Loki’s gullet. He did see the understanding dawn on Thor’s face though before he looked back and forth between Sam and Loki. “Already? I figured with as stubborn and blind as you two were being you’d dance around each other for weeks at least.”

“We might have if not for the fact that we kinda blew up at each other,” Sam said sheepishly. He could see now how much of an idiot he’d been and how wrong all of his assumptions were. 

“Ah yes. Temper. The great revealer,” Thor said with a chuckle, using Loki’s distraction to swipe his bread back, but only succeeded in tearing it. He looked forlornly at it as Loki shoved the rest of what he still had in his mouth, somehow still managing a smirk even with his cheeks bulging. At least he’d gotten some back. “Would you like me to have a plate sent up for you?” he asked with a glare. 

“Nah. I’m good,” Loki said with a grin even as he grabbed an ear of corn from Thor’s plate. Thor just sighed. He would just grab another plate for himself when Loki was gone. 

Sam shook his head and decided this was a good opportunity to get Thor alone, while Loki was distracted by the food. “Can I talk to you for a minute alone?” Sam asked the thunder god. 

Thor sighed again, and slid the remainder of his dinner to Loki, knowing there wouldn’t be any left when he got back anyway, and followed Sam into the hall. “What’s up?” Thor asked nervously. Just because they seemed to be settled now didn’t mean he wasn’t in for payback for the setup. He didn’t know how Loki did this all the time. Tricking people was all well and good, but waiting for reprisal was killing him. 

“Did you know why Loki didn’t want to come back to heaven?” Sam asked, wondering why Thor hadn’t done anything about it if he’d known. 

“No. I figured it was just bad memories or something,” Thor said honestly. 

“He thinks he’s poison and destroys everything he touches. He said he was only here because you insisted and that was why he jumped at the chance to be married off. Because it was the only way you would accept him leaving and he didn’t want to mess up Asgard like he had everything else,” Sam explained. 

“That…that…ugh. That moron!” Thor said annoyed. “I do hope you set him straight on that matter.”

“I tried. It’s gonna take time to get that through to him though. It would be helpful if you could work on him too.”

“You bet your ass I will,” Thor said, determined. “Anything else?” 

“Just a thank you,” Sam said with a smile. “I don’t think anything less than what you pulled would have gotten Loki and I here.” 

“That’s why I did it. I just wanted him to find his happiness,” Thor said relieved. 

“I’ll do my best to make him happy,” Sam promised. 

Thor just clapped him on the shoulder companiably and headed back in to see if any of his dinner could be salvaged. First though, he went and pulled his brother into a huge hug, surprising him so much that he dropped his food. It wasn’t so much the hug itself, but the strength of it that pulled him completely off the table and was almost strangling. “You are a complete idiot if you think that anyone is less than blessed by your presence,” Thor told him before finally letting him go. “As long as they aren’t trying to eat when you show up that is,” he teased looking at his nearly empty plate. 

Loki was torn between touched, disbelieving, and amused. In the end, amusement won out and he couldn’t help but laugh. “Well we should head back. Sammykins here shouldn’t be away from heaven too long at a time like this,” Loki said with a grin, grabbing Sam and bringing them right back to heaven. Once they were gone, Thor gave one last glare to the scraps left on his plate and called down to the kitchen for another one.


	17. Chapter 17

Once they were back in heaven, Loki turned to Sam. “Do you want to get some sparring in?” he asked. 

Sam gave him a patented Loki smirk. “Not particularly,” he replied, reaching out to pull Loki close. “I would much rather enjoy my husband a little more at the moment.” He kissed the god deeply before shoving him back on the bed. 

Loki gave his own smirk and said, “Mmm Sammy. I love when you get rough.”

Sam climbed on top of him, following his husband to the head of the bed before leaning down for another kiss. “I’ll have to remember that,” he said seductively. He wasn’t going to make it rough this time, but he would keep it in mind later. This time he was going to show Loki just how loved he really was. Now that he knew how Loki felt about him, he wasn’t nearly so nervous as he had been before. He had been worried about disappointing him before, but now he knew that he couldn’t. Loki loved him. He wouldn’t mind Sam learning as he went. Not to say he wasn’t nervous at all. He was. It was just a much more manageable nervous. 

Sam took his time and worshipped every inch of the god’s body as he slowly revealed it and worked his way down, using his fingers to stretch him out. He was trying to do what he remembered Loki doing to him and judging by his husband’s reactions, he wasn’t doing so bad. When he finally slid inside, he let out a choked moan, trying not to blow so soon. He’d never felt anything like this. He stilled and leaned over to kiss Loki deeply and lovingly as he tried to pull himself back from the edge. 

Loki could see the struggle in Sam’s face and well remembered his first time in this situation, so once his lips were free he whispered, “It’s okay, Sam. We have at least the next hundred years for slow. Just take what you need.” That simple statement broke the last of Sam’s control. As much as he wanted to make this last, it wasn’t going to happen and that permission helped him to not feel so bad about it as he began to thrust his hips frantically. He managed to have enough presence of mind to reach down and stroke his husband along with him. Hopefully all the attention he’d paid to him beforehand would keep him from being left behind too far because Sam was just about done. It was no time at all before he was emptying himself deep inside the god, but he needn’t have worried. Loki was right behind him and Sam let out another moan as the clenching surrounded him and pulled more than he thought he had in him. 

Sam collapsed next to his husband, pulling him close. “I love you, Loki,” Sam whispered breathlessly, kissing the god’s temple. 

“And I love you, Sam,” Loki whispered back, turning to kiss him. It was much shorter than intended given their shortness of breath, but it said everything it needed to say. 

They lay there in bed for hours, tracing light patterns on bare skin and making light conversation, just enjoying each other’s presence before Sam sighed and pulled himself out of bed. He had a meeting with the angels soon and would have to spend a good part of the day going over reports. Now that they had power back, there was a lot to do to get things running normally again. He still didn’t want to leave though. “S’all good Samsquatch. Really. I could use some alone time anyway,” Loki told him. He was still trying to come to terms with everything that had happened to him after all, not to mention trying to fit all his new information in with his old. He wasn’t intending to give Sam’s assurances that he wasn’t poison much thought at all, but once Sam was gone, he found he couldn’t get it out of his head. He still hadn’t come to a conclusion by the time Sam returned almost ten hours later, but he had sorted out a lot of his other thoughts. He wasn’t usually one to sit still and think for so long, but he wasn’t usually dealing with this kind of trauma and emotional whiplash either. 

Still, he didn’t want to deal with much more at the moment so when Sam came back, he again offered to spar with him for a while. Sam retrieved two training blades and went into the next room which Loki cleared of everything to give them room to work. He had to admit that Sam was pretty good, but still nowhere near his league…or Michael’s. It would take a lot of work to get him ready. And work they did. For the next few days, if Sam wasn’t on the throne dealing with that, then they were in the training room. They did take short sex breaks, but Loki was working Sam hard. Now that he had him he couldn’t stand the thought of losing him if Michael attacked before they were ready. 

A few days after they started training, they were on one of their breaks. Loki was straddling Sam and had just lowered himself on his husband’s cock and started riding him when there was a knock at the door. Sam and Loki both groaned. “What is it?” Sam asked. 

“It better be good,” Loki added, still rolling his hips. 

“Sorry, but you’re needed rather urgently in the throne room,” he heard Cas say from the other side of the door. 

“How urgently?” Sam asked, pressing his hips up into Loki hoping they would at least be able to finish what they started. 

“Immediately,” Cas said and Sam could hear the apology in his voice from here. Most importantly, Sam knew that Cas wasn’t one for hyperbole. If he said Sam was needed immediately, then he was probably needed ten minutes ago. 

Loki knew the same thing and managed to pull himself off Sam and snap his fingers clothing the hunter turned archangel. “I’ll be waiting when you get back,” he told him, not bothering to dress himself. 

Sam pressed one more quick kiss to his husband’s lips and rushed out of the room, adjusting himself as he went, trying to will his erection to go away. “What is it, Cas?” Sam asked as they walked. 

“We’ve heard from the troops sent to the other world. You need to give permission for their leader to come to heaven to brief you,” Cas said. 

“He couldn’t brief me later?” Sam asked impatiently. 

“They have a bit of a situation that needs immediate resolution,” Cas explained. 

“Okay. He has my permission,” Sam said as he swept into the throne room and plopped down on the throne. It was mere seconds before he saw a man rush in, dressed in pagan armor in what didn’t look like the best of shape. It looked like they’d been through the ringer. 

“King Sam,” he said with a respectful bow. “We have found your family as well as the human Ketch.”

“That’s great! Where are they?” Sam interrupted. 

“They are defending the rift on the other side. The issue is that there are others that are requesting passage here. Three dozen humans and twenty five angels who wish to defect. I thought it best to seek your permission before allowing them passage.”

Sam sucked in a sharp breath. The humans weren’t in question. They were in far too much danger over there and he would gladly welcome anyone looking for asylum. The angels were the sticking point and he needed to make a decision quickly. He didn’t need the details to know that they were in a pitched battle over there waiting for his word before they could come through and close the rift. “The humans are good. They are welcome. These angels…why do they want to defect?” 

“They say that they don’t want to fight anymore. They want peace,” Tyr told him. 

“Do you believe them?” Sam asked. 

“None of my men could sense any deceit from them and they have been instrumental in getting us this far,” Tyr said honestly. 

“If they are willing to swear oaths to me and disavow any former allegiances, they can come. Can your people transport them directly to holding cells until we can get them sworn?” Sam asked. That would more than triple the current population of heaven and he couldn’t take any chances that they might be double agents. 

“We can. But not before we get to this side of the rift and get it closed. Until then they are needed in the fight,” Tyr told him. 

“I will trust you to keep things together then,” Sam said, knowing that a god was a match for a seraph in a fight and Tyr had fifty men with him. It would be plenty to subdue them if they tried to fight or flee. 

“Of course,” Tyr said with a bow and quickly left. 

Once he was gone, Sam sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose before turning to Cas. “Did I make the right call there, Cas?” 

“I believe you did. If they can be oathbound, the numbers will help us greatly. The difficulty will be in crafting the oath so that they cannot work against us. I assume you are worried about spies.”

“Exactly. They may be sent by Michael to infiltrate us and position themselves for a surgical strike,” Sam told him. 

“I believe we should have everyone working on the wording of the oath, just as with the pagans. That way it will be less likely than any attempt will slip past,” Cas suggested. 

“I will leave you in charge of that. I need to go see Dean, Mom, and Jack. I’ll look over what you’ve got when I get back,” Sam told him. 

“Understood,” Cas said with a nod. He wanted to go and see them as well, but he knew his duty. 

“Oh and let Loki know where I went and that I’ll be back as soon as I can,” Sam said, waiting until he saw Cas nod before he disappeared, heading to where he could sense the rift.


	18. Chapter 18

On the other side:  
Tyr had just gone through and they were surrounded. They had the portal covered on all sides, but they were also covered on all sides as the battle raged on. Mary had an unconscious Jack at her feet as she and Bobby shielded him from attack while making their own. They were running low on ammo though and they didn’t know how much longer they could last. The angels on their side were engaged in hand to hand combat with their blades, while the humans were taking aim with the angel killing bullets, trying their best not to hit those on their side. 

Charlie was down on one knee taking aim as fast as she could with her pistol while Ketch was standing beside her doing the same. She was turned taking aim at an enemy who was trying to sneak past their line and thus unable to see the blast headed for her, but Ketch saw it and he did the only thing he could. He knew how much this girl meant to Dean. He shoved her out of the way, taking the blast full force in his back. His armor could never have hoped to stop it. Charlie jumped up and turned to check on him only to see lifeless eyes staring back at her. It said a lot to how much she had seen that she didn’t even take a moment before she was back in the fight, resolving to be more observant. There would be time to mourn later. 

Dean was down. His leg burned to a crisp, but he was still firing as fast as he could and Mary shifted to cover both him and Jack. Tyr was back and just in time. “All humans through the rift. Any angels willing to swear an oath are welcome as well,” Tyr called. Bobby and one of the other men grabbed Jack under his arms and dragged him through while Mary and Charlie did the same for Dean. There were a few other people who had to be helped through. The pagans who were still standing covered the retreat and Tyr was watching the angels going through carefully to make sure that none of the enemy slipped by. Once all the injured and friendly angels were through, Tyr tossed an explosive to cover their own retreat. He had four men stationed by the rift to stop anyone else who might make it through while he took out to seal to close it. Six enemy soldiers came through and were promptly dispatched before the rift closed and he could turn to managing things here. 

He hadn’t noticed that Sam had arrived as they started pouring in, but he did see him standing over Dean with his eyes closed and hands outstretched. “Stop,” Tyr called pulling him away. “His injuries are well within the abilities of our healers to take care of. You should not set back your healing when war is on our doorstep.”

Sam hated leaving the healing of his family to others, but he had to admit that Tyr had a point and he nodded. While that had been going on, Tyr’s men had been disappearing with the angels that had come through, most of them with looks of betrayal on their faces. He would explain later. Or Cas would. It was necessary. “Would you like my men to guard them in the cells for the time being?” Tyr asked. 

“That’s okay,” Sam told him. “They need rest and healing too and I’ve been assured that those cells are escape proof.” 

“Very well,” Tyr said with a nod, secretly glad of that answer. They weren’t without their own injuries after that whole mess, but he had been ordered to offer all possible aid, so he would do so. The god waved a hand and the remaining men swarmed around the injured humans. They were battlefield healers, but they could handle most of the injuries. Those they couldn’t, they could call in a full healer for. 

In addition to Dean’s leg, Mary also had a bad shoulder wound and Bobby had lost three fingers on his right hand. Charlie had little more than bumps and bruises, and the rest of the humans with them were in various states in between. They didn’t end up having to call in full healers for any of the humans, but many of the gods in the unit would need to see one. “Captain,” one of the gods called and Tyr turned to look at him. “The Nephilim is beyond our abilities. I don’t believe our healers will be able to do anything for him either.” 

“Is he stable?” Tyr asked. 

“He is. He is not in danger of death. It is almost as if his powers have been burned away and he is in a healing coma,” the god told his commander.

Tyr turned to Sam who had moved to Jack’s side worriedly. “I can have our top healer come out to confirm the diagnosis, but I would suggest that you let him heal naturally. Our intelligence says that Michael is close to finding a way here. The Nephilim hurt him badly, but he will be back in fighting shape soon. You can’t afford to be at less than your best.”

Sam closed his eyes and fought the urge to do everything he could right this minute. He knew that Tyr was right. Especially if Michael was close. “As long as he’s not in danger of death, then I will do so. I will take him to heaven though and have our healers take a look at him to be sure. They may be able to help him as well.” He remembered that Thor said that even a seraph had more healing power than the pagan healers. They may not be able to do much, but every little bit would help. 

“I understand,” Tyr said with a nod. It was the decision he would have made in Sam’s position as well. “I will be making a full report to King Thor in twelve hours if you wish to attend. If not, I will see that you get a written transcript.”

“I will probably be there. Thank you, Tyr, for bringing my family home,” Sam said reaching out a hand to shake. Tyr nodded and gave him a short bow before he and the remaining few pagans disappeared. 

That handled, Sam turned to his mother and Dean and pulled them both into a tight hug, mindful of his new strength. It was a long time before he let them go. “I think we all have quite a bit to catch up on,” Mary said after seeing Sam handling the situation and the gods deferring to him. 

“Yeah. We do,” Sam huffed a laugh. Talk about the understatement of the century. “Let me run Jack up to heaven real quick and I’ll be back to start that catching up. There’s plenty of food in the kitchen for anyone who’s hungry,” Sam added, knowing that they could all probably use a good meal too. 

Sam was back in less than ten minutes to find that the kitchen was in full chaos as thirty people tried to find some food all at once. When he saw that Dean, Mary, and Bobby already had full plates he motioned them to follow him and they brought their food to the library. “You sure you want me here kid? I ain’t family,” Bobby said uncomfortably. 

“Far as I’m concerned, you are. Even if that weren’t the case, you’re probably the best authority on what the hell happened over there anyway, so yes,” Sam told him. “So, you guys start. Last I heard you wanted to stick around and keep fighting.”

“That was when there was still something to fight for. Bastards turned one of my lieutenants. Every one of our safe houses and camps got raided at once. This here is all that’s left,” Bobby told him. “Figured it’d be better to make a new start than to keep fighting an army with a couple dozen people and most of those here are refugees not fighters anyway.” 

“I’m sorry to hear that, Bobby. Really. But we’re happy to have you here. We’ll have to look up and see if any of the people here have counterparts in this world and figure out the situations before we know how to work things. In the meantime they’ll need to stick around the bunker, but I know a few people in the know that we can call on to help with that so it doesn’t take too long,” Sam said apologetically. 

Bobby scoffed. “Kid most of these people have never seen anything but the inside of a dirty rundown camp. This place might as well heaven to them. I don’t think they’ll be chomping at the bit to leave anytime soon.”

“Good. That’ll make things easier at least. Just remember there’s a lot of dangerous stuff here. I’ll need you and whoever else you can trust to help keep things in line,” Sam told him. 

“You’ll need? Who put you in charge there, Sammy?” Dean chimed in. 

“Oh. Sorry. I guess I’ve just gotten used to everyone looking to me for answers,” Sam said sheepishly. 

“Yeah and why is that, and what’s with the powers and the talk of heaven and stuff?” Mary asked. Apparently it was Sam’s turn to tell his story. 

“For that matter, what’s with the whole pagan army turning up to rescue us?” Dean asked.


	19. Chapter 19

“It’s kind of a long story. I’ll start at the beginning for Mom and Bobby so bear with me,” he told his brother and explained how Gabriel was captured and tortured for so long and how he kept pushing him to help when he was still hurt and how Gabriel got fed up with it and gave him his grace so now he was running heaven which was on the verge of collapse before he got to the more recent stuff. “So I teamed up with the pagan army to take down Lucifer in return for saving Loki’s life. When I didn’t hear from Dean after a week, I went to them again. We ended up setting up a full alliance between heaven and Asgard hence the army coming to rescue you. And that wasn’t the whole army. That was just one company out of hundreds.”

“So the pagans are in control of this world then instead of the angels. Doesn’t seem that much better to me,” Bobby said gruffly. 

“No, the pagans aren’t in control. They rarely leave Asgard and have nothing to do with humans with very few exceptions,” Sam told him.

“I don’t get it. If their army is that strong…”

“They don’t want to rule over humans,” Sam told him. He’d learned more than a little about the pagans from Loki since their wedding. “Sure, sometimes someone will get a bug up their ass and start a little killing spree, but they are few and far between and the pagans will punish them as harshly as we do if they catch them first. The last thing they want is the attention of the humans and their WMDs.” 

“WMDs?” Bobby asked curiously. “You mean like the old soviet nukes and stuff?” 

“There’s a lot you have to learn about this world,” Dean told him, remembering that they had basically been thrown back to the dark ages in their world. They’d never even heard of a computer. “So you’re all buddy buddy with the pagans now?” 

“Not all of the pagans. Just the Norse. In fact…um…in order to seal the treaty…I um…I married Loki,” Sam stammered. 

“You did what?!” Dean asked jumping to his feet. Mary didn’t seem in much better shape, sitting there wide-eyed in shock. They’d gotten the memo that Loki used to be Gabriel, but that didn’t exactly help. Bobby was eyeing him suspiciously, as if being an angel hadn’t been enough of a hit. “They made you…”

“They didn’t MAKE me do anything. It was my choice. In return for protection and military assistance, they wanted a connection to heaven. Once Loki gave me his grace, they lost that connection and were on the verge of starvation. The only way to create that connection was for one of the royal line to marry me. I agreed because it was worth it,” Sam told him. “I didn’t know at the time that it would be Loki that I was marrying, but I’m glad it was.”

Dean calmed down a bit at that. He had long suspected that Sam had a thing for Gabriel anyway, so he could deal. “So you married the pixie. That mean he’s actually going to help now?” 

“In a way. I have his grace still and it’s still severely damaged. He’s helping me learn to use the powers and trying to get my fighting skills up to par to take on Michael, but that’s all he can do. The Asgard military is going to back us too, thanks to Loki and Thor. That’s really all he can do,” Sam told him. 

“I guess that’s good enough,” Dean grumbled. Mary looked like she wanted to talk more about this situation, but Dean cut her off. “Not now, Mom. There will be time to talk more about this later.”

“Dean’s right. I need to get back to heaven soon and deal with our new arrivals and see what we can do for Jack. First though, what happened after you went through?” Sam asked his brother. 

“Well it took a couple days to find Mom and Jack, but Charlie and Ketch had left me clues to follow. When I found them they were under siege so of course I jumped in to help. We had been pinned down for almost a week but we were holding them off, somehow, thanks to the angels that jumped the fence. They offered to help us get out of there if we would take them back with us. There were over sixty to start with. We were still taking heavy losses though. We weren’t long from a final stand when Tyr and his men arrived and got them in a crossfire giving us a chance to make a run for it. There was no way we could stop long enough to open the portal while so many of them were right on our tail. Not long after we started running, Michael himself showed up and Jack jumped out to take him on. He was the only one who was potentially a match for an archangel. I didn’t understand much of that fight. There was a lot of freaky shit flying back and forth, but in the end Michael was running hurt and Jack was unconscious. We had to carry him the rest of the way and the rest of the angels were still chasing us. It took a few days for us to lose enough of them to stand a chance at defending the rift and you know the rest.”

“Yeah. I do. Except…I didn’t see Ketch out there. Tyr said he was with you guys,” Sam asked curiously. 

“I can answer that,” another voice came from the hallway. 

“Charlie!” Sam said getting up to hug her, not realizing what he was doing until she stiffened in his hold. “Sorry. I forgot for a second that you’re not our Charlie.”

“Ketch was fighting next to me. I was about to get blindsided. He pushed be out of the way and took the hit himself. He didn’t make it,” she said sadly. She didn’t particularly like the guy personally, but he was a good soldier and he had sacrificed himself to save her life. That made him good in her book. 

Sam swallowed a lump in his throat and nodded. He was in the same mind as Charlie at the moment. His last act had redeemed him from all the crap he pulled in the past. He’d saved someone who mattered a great deal to them. That was all that mattered. “Thanks for letting us know,” Dean told her. “Have a seat.”

“Nah. I’m too busy running herd on those yahoos out there. I just came to make sure everything was okay in here,” Charlie said looking to Bobby. 

“We’re good. I should probably come help you though,” Bobby said nodding tightly to the others in the room. 

“And I should probably get back to heaven now that I know everyone’s okay. I need to get our newcomers to swear their oath and settled in and by then it’ll probably be time to meet with Thor for the report. I’m sure you guys could use a good night’s sleep anyway. I’ll come by after I leave Asgard though yeah?” 

“Okay Sammy,” Dean said getting up and pulling him into a hug. “And I gotta say, you are a sight for sore eyes.”

“Right back atcha, jerk,” Sam said with a grin. 

“Bitch,” Dean replied slapping his brother on the back as he took a step away. 

Sam turned to Mary and pulled her into a hug as well. “See you soon, Mom,” he said softly. 

“Okay. And you better bring that husband of yours with you next time,” she ordered.

Sam chuckled. “I will.”

Sam flew himself back to heaven, landing in his room rather than throne room. He needed to explain himself to his husband first. No sooner than he landed he was laying naked on the bed again with Loki straddling his lap. He gave an involuntary moan before grabbing his husband’s hips to still them. “I still need to deal with the…”

“They can wait a little while. They’re already on ice,” Loki said impatiently, breaking Sam’s grip and slamming himself down on Sam’s cock that had been hard ever since Loki straddled his lap. Now that they had picked up where they left off, Sam lost all resistance to the idea. Loki was right. They would keep for another little while. Cas probably wasn’t even done with the oath yet. 

Twenty minutes later, they were collapsed in the bed, breathless and sated. “Sorry I had to bail like that, Lo,” Sam said pressing a kiss to the top of his husband’s head. 

“S’okay. I get it. It sucks, but I get it. People really need to work on their timing though,” he grumbled. 

Sam chuckled. “Yeah. They do,” he agreed. 

“But everyone is okay?” Loki asked what he probably should have asked before tackling Sam in the bed. 

“Yeah. There were some injuries, but nothing that Tyr’s people couldn’t heal. Other than Jack. I’ll need to go check on him soon.”

“I already did,” Loki told him. “Cassie gave me the rundown. I looked over the oath too. It looks good, but feel free to give it another look.”

“Okay. Thanks. How is Jack?” Sam asked. 

“You remember what I did to Asmodeus? That fire looking thing?” 

“How could I forget?” Sam asked with a shudder. 

“Well it seems like that’s what Michael did to Jack. It’s a far more drawn out and painful death…if it gets that far, which it didn’t for Jack. It basically burns their powers from the inside out.”


	20. Chapter 20

“But Jack will recover?” Sam asked worriedly. 

“To a point, yes. Will he get all of his power back? Unlikely. How much he gets back will remain to be seen, but Michael is thorough. A lot of it is gone for good.”

“But he will get some back?” Sam asked. 

“There’s no way to be sure, but best I can tell yes. He didn’t get to all of it, but it depends on how well his body fights it off and seals the wound,” Loki told him. 

“Could I help somehow?” Sam asked. They would need all the power they could get if they went up against Michael. 

“No,” Loki told him. “Any healing you attempt would be more likely to do more damage. That’s the danger of that power and why it’s so rarely used. There are quicker and easier ways to kill. This is designed for maximum damage. Trying to heal him would be more likely to flare it up again and kill him.”

“Crap. Now I’m really glad Tyr stopped me. Do you think he knew?” Sam asked. 

“No. He had no way of knowing. The only beings with that kind of power are the archangels and like I said, even we rarely use it. I could only tell because I recognized the signs. I stopped Lily from trying anything to heal him too. I told her to just keep him comfortable. She’ll be asking you to confirm those orders I’m sure,” Loki said. The only one here who knew who he used to be other than Sam was Cas after all and Loki had told him not to tell anyone else. They would listen to him to a point, as Sam’s husband, but anything questionable they would confirm. 

“Okay. Thanks for letting me know,” Sam told him. “Anything else I should know?” 

“Just that the angels in the holding cells aren’t happy. They think they were betrayed, but I’m sure you can clear that up in no time. I told Cas to have them all healed of any injuries though.”

“I should have thought of that. Thanks, Loki. And I’m sorry you had to take on so much while I was gone. I just had to…”

“I get it Sammykins. You needed to make sure your family was okay. I’m not exactly eager to do it again, but I can if I need to,” Loki told him. 

“Thank you,” Sam said again, pulling him in for a long kiss. “I hate to go, but…”

“I know. You have a lot to do,” Loki said understandingly. “I fully expect you to make it up to me though.”

“You can count on it,” Sam said with a grin. “Did you want to come with me to Asgard to get the full report from Tyr?” 

“Sure thing,” Loki told him. Asgard he could do. Heaven, not so much.

“Okay. I’ll come get you before I head there,” Sam promised, pressing one more quick kiss to his husband’s lips before heading out and towards the throne room where he was sure he would find Cas. He took a moment to look over the oath, but he was sure Loki would have caught any loopholes the others missed. He was Loki after all. Still, there was no reason to take chances. He read over it multiple times and considered it from all the angles he could think of before he pronounced it good and headed towards the cells, Cas on his heels. 

As they were walking, Cas felt the need to tell him. “There are a few angels in there that you will be familiar with from their counterparts, though their vessels are different.”

“Who?” Sam asked concernedly. He could count on one hand the number of angels he didn’t want to kill.

“Balthazar, Anael, and Samandriel,” Cas told him. 

Sam breathed a sigh of relief. Balthazar had been a royal pain in the ass, but he hadn’t been so bad. The other two were good kids. He could easily see all three of them taking any way out of the constant fighting. He was feeling a little better about his spur of the moment decision now. As soon as he walked in, he was met by a voice saying, “What’s the meaning of locking us up. I thought we were coming here for asylum?” 

“That would be Balthazar,” Cas whispered, knowing that Sam wouldn’t recognize their true forms having been human the last time he saw them. “He seems to be the leader in a manner of speaking.”

“You are here for asylum. I apologize for the necessity of this, but given the circumstances there were more urgent things I needed to attend to, and I could not take the risk of one of Michael’s loyal agents slipping in here while I was disposed. If you are all willing to swear the oath I will hand you, you’ll be free to leave these cells,” Sam told them. 

“You couldn’t have just had us watched without throwing us in here,” Balthazar asked irritated. These cells were pretty much the greatest fear for angels everywhere. At least on their world. 

“No. I couldn’t. One thing you need to understand is that heaven has had a lot of difficulties over the years. We are working on rebuilding, but as of this moment, the twenty one of you nearly triple the number of angels in this world,” Sam told him. “We didn’t, and don’t, have the manpower to have you watched, which is the main reason for the strictness of this oath,” he said handing it over to Balthazar to look it over. 

Sam had noticed the alarm growing on the faces of the angels as they learned how dire heaven’s situation was here. “Can you really stand against Michael?” one of them asked. 

“Not alone. We have a full alliance treaty with Asgard. Their armies will stand with us,” Sam told them and saw them all relax a bit. They had seen a little bit of what the Asgard army could do during their rescue.

“Do they have enough though?” another of the angels asked. 

“A single company was sent after you and they have hundreds of companies in their army. Will it be enough? We can only hope. But we will at the very least have a fighting chance,” Sam assured them. 

Balthazar looked up from the oath and said, “We’ll swear.” If he hadn’t known of the dire straits heaven was in here he might have balked at all the restrictions, but he did understand. Still, “I do hope the reigns will be loosened a bit once we prove ourselves.”

“You can count on it,” Sam promised. For the time being they were essentially slaves with this oath, but he couldn’t take any chances here. He planned to loosen a great deal of it as soon as Michael was sufficiently dealt with even. Balthazar took the oath first, and it went down the line. Sam asked them to introduce themselves as they took it. Only one of them refused and Sam gave him a choice. “You can either take the oath, give up your grace and live as a human, or be chucked back to Michael. Those are your only options. I will not risk the safety of all of heaven.” The fact that he chose to give up his grace and live as a human told Sam that he probably wasn’t a double agent and just didn’t want to live under those restrictions, but it didn’t matter. Not right now. Maybe when all this was over he would track him down and give him his grace back, but for now, Sam gently extracted his grace and promised to keep it safe for later. He had Cas take him back through the sandbox and get him setup somewhere. He even handed over all his credit cards and IDs since he wouldn’t need them anymore.

As each angel swore the oath, their cell was opened and they were free to go. They all stayed with Sam though until all of their fellows were released. “Can I ask…our counterparts here…are they all dead?” 

“They are,” Sam told him bluntly, knowing there was no other way to do it. Given how few were left it would have been highly unlikely for any of these twenty to have living counterparts. At least it made things easier. “I will give everyone the day off today so that they can help you get settled in and catch you up,” Sam told them. 

“Thank you,” Balthazar said gratefully. Despite the restrictions they were under, they were still better off than they had been on the other side. Here they had a chance at peace and they could help to build something better than it was before. That was really all they could ask for.


	21. Chapter 21

By the time they got everyone settled it was time for Sam and Loki to head to Asgard for Tyr’s report. Sam decided to bring Cas along too, just in case some of his soldiers needed a dose of angel healing. It turned out they did. Most of Tyr’s story was just another point of view on what he’d already learned from Dean, with a little more detail on the fight between Michael and Jack. In a matter of power, Jack was way ahead of Michael but his lack of experience evened them out. Where Jack was mostly just throwing uncontrolled bursts of power, Michael fought with tactics and skill. Sam did get confirmation that Michael was at least severely hurt. There would have been no other reason to run. Sam had learned from the angels that defected that Michael was no more than a week away from being able to open the portal, having decided to take the needed archangel grace from Raphael, who gladly offered it when asked. He would do anything for Michael. The invasion now depended on how quickly Michael was able to heal. 

The rest of the new information he got involved the pagan casualties. They had lost five, four more were in critical condition and Thor gladly accepted Cas’ offer to heal them. Sam even offered to pull them back from the edge if Cas’ ability wasn’t enough. They would check on them after the report. The rest of the injuries, including Tyr’s own had been…well not exactly minor, but able to be handled by their own healers. Tyr would have a limp for a few days and there were similar residual aches among many of them, but they would all make a full recovery. 

When they got down to the infirmary, Cas was able to help two of the four, but the other two were beyond his abilities so Sam stepped up. He agreed with Tyr that he needed to save his strength, but when it was a matter of life or death like here, he wouldn’t just stand aside and let anyone die. Especially when they were in that position because they had saved his family. Once Sam started healing the first one, the uncontrollable scream of agony pulled from him again, and he was so lost in the pain and trying to concentrate on what he was doing that he didn’t notice Loki leave the room and the door slam closed behind him. Thor had been watching and pulled him back as soon as the soldier was out of danger and they did the same with the second. Only then did Sam realize that Loki was gone. “Where’s Loki?” he asked confused. 

“Outside,” Thor said gravely. He couldn’t imagine what his brother was feeling right now. 

Sam walked, rather unsteadily out into the hallway, spotting Loki leaning against the wall, head resting back on it, and tears falling from his eyes. “Loki?” Sam asked stepping towards him. 

As soon as Sam’s hand touched Loki’s shoulder his arms were full as Loki held him tightly. “I’m sorry, Sam. I’m so sorry. You shouldn’t have to be going through this.”

“Hey. Shh,” Sam said soothingly running his hand through Loki’s hair. “It’s okay, Lo. Really. Remember what I said before. I’d gladly take all the pain in the world if it meant that you didn’t have to bear it.” He pressed a kiss to his husband’s head. “I’m okay, Loki.” 

Loki felt his heart breaking the second that first scream pulled from Sam’s throat. Knowing that the man he loved with his whole being was in so much pain was bad enough, but knowing that it was his fault. That he had put that pain on him in the first place. He couldn’t bear it. It was tearing him apart. Even as Sam tried to soothe him it just made him feel worse. How could he ever deserve someone like Sam when he hurt him so much. It was his grace. He was the one who let himself get captured. He was the one who allowed it to be damaged. It was his cross to bear, and he had just put it on Sam like it was nothing, and now he couldn’t even take it back. He had never hated himself more than he did in that moment. “I told you I would destroy you,” he couldn’t help but whisper. 

Sam took half a step back and turned Loki’s head up to look at him. “Hey now. Stop that. I’m not destroyed at all. I’m just fine. Well, maybe a little tired, but I’ll be okay and you know what? Even if you had given me the choice, I would have said yes. No matter what. Because I love you Loki, I would do anything for you. You haven’t destroyed me. You couldn’t. As long as I have you, I’ll always be okay. Got it?” He leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to his husband’s lips, using his thumbs to wipe away the tears. “I love you. Always.”

“I love you, Sam. I’m so sorry,” Loki said sadly. 

“Come on. Let’s go home,” Sam said gently and waited for Loki to nod before he flew them back to heaven and promptly collapsed in his bed. The next few hours were spent with Loki fussing over him and Sam had to admit that he was rather touched. He would have been more so if it hadn’t been for the guilt mixed in with the concern. He just wished he could banish that guilt to the far reaches of time and space. 

Once Sam was feeling like himself again, he got up. He had promised to head back to the bunker for a while after all. And he’d promised to take Loki with him. “Come on Loki. Time for you to meet my mom.”

“Do what?” Loki asked with wide eyes. 

Sam couldn’t help but laugh at the look on his face. “Don’t tell me a big bad god is scared of a little human woman?” he teased. 

“Of course not…it’s just…you can’t…you gotta give me some warning for this stuff…jesus Sam,” Loki said nervously, just making Sam laugh harder. 

“Why? So you can get yourself even more worked up about it?” Sam asked amusedly before grabbing Loki’s arm and flying them away before he could freak. They landed in the library, expecting that to be the calmest room in the bunker at the moment with all the new faces there. It was fairly calm, but not as much as he was expecting. 

“These are called books, you idjit. They aren’t for burning,” he heard Bobby tell one of the younger men he was frog marching back into the library. 

“Please tell me you caught it in time?” Sam said plaintively trying not to hyperventilate. 

“This one got a little singed, but it’s still usable and I saved the rest,” Bobby assured him. 

“Thank you,” Sam said with a sigh of relief. 

“Sorry about that. Most of these younger kids have never seen a book and wood and paper are usually used for the fires. I set them straight though,” Bobby said with an apologetic shrug. 

“It’s okay, Bobby. Just do your best. Maybe keep them out of the library though. Most of the books in here are irreplaceable.” 

“Already laid down the law on that one, kid. Don’t you worry.”

“Thanks. You know where my mom and Dean are?” Sam asked. 

“Last I saw em, they were out in the garage,” Bobby told him, and Sam nodded and started dragging Loki in that direction. 

“Sammy!” Dean called as they walked in and Sam realized they were tinkering with the Impala. 

“Hey Dean. Mom. This is Loki,” he introduced him to his mother. 

She stepped right up to him and stood tall, looking him straight in the eye with a hard look on her face. Loki didn’t shrink back from it, but Sam could feel him tensing as his fight or flight instincts kicked in. Sam decided he needed to step in here. “Mom, can I talk to you for a minute,” Sam said grabbing her arm to drag her away, shooting a glare at Dean to play nice. He was relieved when his brother just gave him a knowing nod. 

Once they were well away from the others, Sam turned to her and said, “Look Mom. I know where you’re coming from here, but please try to remember that until a few weeks ago he spent the last five plus years trapped in a cage being tortured in ways you couldn’t even imagine. He’s a lot more fragile than he looks right now.”

“He’s a god. He used to be an archangel,” Mary scoffed at the idea of him being fragile. 

“And three weeks ago he showed up here all bloody and swollen, with his lips sewn shut and so terrified that he wouldn’t come out of the closet for days. Even after we cut the thread from his lips he wouldn’t speak for a long time. The fact that he’s functioning at all right now is a miracle. Just ease off him. Please.”

That pulled the wind right out of her sails. “Okay. I’ll back off. But I still want to talk to him. I’ll just do so a little more gently than I intended.” She couldn’t deny that his story awakened a kind of maternal instinct towards the ex-archangel. 

Sam nodded gratefully and returned to the car where Dean seemed to be trying to teach Loki how to change a spark plug. Sam snorted a laugh as he stepped up behind his husband and wrapped his arms around his stomach, pressing a kiss to his cheek. “It’ll be okay,” he whispered softly before letting him go, and letting Mary pull him away. 

Loki refused to cower from her, but he couldn’t hide the stiffness in his gait. Mary had been intending to take him into another room for this, but decided to stay where he could see Sam, just to keep him calm. Now that she was looking she definitely recognized the signs of some severe PTSD. She figured that Sam was probably one of the few people he felt safe around. “Look, Loki. I just want to make sure my baby is well taken care of. I’ve missed so much of his life, and now that I’m back, I’m a little more protective than usual. It seems like you make him happy, and I just want to say thank you and tell you that it better stay that way.”

Loki resisted the urge to scoff at the idea of him making anyone happy long term and just said, “I’ll always do my best.” That was all he could say without lying to her. 

“Good enough,” she said with a nod. “Now that’s settled, I want to point out that you’re my son in law now. Which means that if you need anything, I’m here for you just as much as I am for my boys. Okay?” 

“T-thank you,” Loki said, caught completely off-guard by that statement and her acceptance. Couldn’t she see that he was trouble? That Sam was dealing with so much crap now all because of him? Or had he not told her the story yet? That must be it. She just didn’t know. He just hoped he was far away when she found out.


	22. Chapter 22

The rest of the afternoon was spent mostly joking around with a bit of tinkering with the car sprinkled in there too. Loki got put in the same category as Sam. That category being don’t touch the car or you’ll break something, but both of them took it in stride. Once the sun started to set, they headed back to heaven. That became a routine for them. Every afternoon they spent at the bunker with Dean and Mary and Sam was enjoying connecting to his mother again, though Loki was still a little jumpy around her, not that Sam knew why. With the exception of that first issue, she’d been nothing but warm and kind to him. He decided to give it some time before he started pushing the matter though. He learned that Dean had Jodi checking on their houseguests. He got names where he could but she was also running facial recognition software and fingerprints too, just to be sure. She had already agreed to help get them settled. There were, thankfully only a couple actual kids in the bunch and she agreed to take them in rather than send them to a group home where no one would understand what they had been through. 

A couple days after their last visit, Sam got a message from Thor letting him know that the full military was on standby and they were monitoring for dimensional rifts. Sam sent back a quick thank you and after seeing Loki’s face light up at the communication from his brother, mornings were spent in Asgard thereafter. The fact that Loki hadn’t mentioned it said a lot to Sam about his mental state. They spent every day with his family, but Loki was missing his own. Sam felt like a jerk for not thinking of it before. 

It was pure luck that had Sam and Loki in Asgard when the alarms went off about the rift opening so there was no delay in getting Sam. He was still the only person who could match Michael in a fight. In the three weeks since Dean got back, Sam had gotten much better with his blade and could take Loki one fight out of three now. He would have preferred at least two out of three, but he had to work with what he got. Sam managed to convince Loki to stay behind, and was more than a little surprised that he needed to. Not nearly as surprised as Loki was that he did though. Loki figured after all the talk about him stepping up to the fight, Sam would want him there. Sam was a little smarter this time though. He knew that Loki may be healed physically, but his emotional wounds ran deeper. He wasn’t about to pit him against his strongest brother in his current state, and this time, he wasn’t the only hope. Sam was. 

In the end it was the fact that both Sam and Thor were going into battle and they couldn’t lose everyone. Someone had to stay behind to take care of both heaven and Asgard if they fell. One good thing about the transfer of grace that Loki pulled off was that if Sam died, the grace would return to where it belonged. While part of Loki wanted to be by Sam’s side to help protect him, another part of him was glad for the excuse to stay behind. Given that he was so divided, he decided to follow Sam’s wishes instead. He seemed to be sure of what he wanted at least, unlike Loki. 

Sam and Thor arrived at the rift less than a minute after it opened, the entire Asgard army at his back. Sam had sent for reinforcements from heaven, among the new angels that were hardened soldiers and knew Michael’s style and most importantly, actually could get there and had their wings. Hopefully one of them would bring Cas along, but if not, one angel wouldn’t make much of a difference. By the time they got there, there were already nearly a hundred angels come through and more every second. They way they had to bunch up to get through worked against them though as the army made short work of them. 

Thor held Sam back from getting into the fight. They both needed to save their strength for Michael when he came through. Thor was going to back him up in that fight, hoping that he could at least distract him enough for Sam to get the killing blow he needed. Sam had gotten an idea a few days ago that he didn’t discuss with anyone for fear of it not working out. He wouldn’t risk himself for it, but if he could manage to take Michael’s grace without getting himself or Thor killed, he would take it and offer it to Gabriel. Assuming the fight with Jack hadn’t damaged it too much that is. 

By the time Michael came through, there were only a few small pockets of skirmishes left, most of his angels lay dead at his feet. Unfortunately for them, Raphael came through with him. Even with damaged grace, Raphael was too much for a pagan to handle. Still, Thor did what needed to be done. Michael was the real threat. He would have to distract the secondary long enough for Sam to finish with Michael and help him. Thor motioned Tyr to Sam’s side. He would take Thor’s place with Michael and a few of the other commanders stepped up to help as well. In a close quarters fight like this, a method like they used with Lucifer could never work. Not to mention that Michael wasn’t as damaged as Lucifer to begin with, as far as they knew and that wasn’t the kind of thing they could count on. 

Sam rolled with the punches and did what he needed to do. If it had been up to him he would have taken Raphael and got the lesser threat out of the way before they tackled Michael together, but Thor had already taken control and this definitely wasn’t the place for disagreement. Not to mention Thor had a lot more experience in a battle situation anyway, so he would trust him on this one. Sam lit into Michael immediately, Tyr and Freyja at his back and they quickly got him on the defensive. His worry over Thor’s fight was almost his undoing, but Tyr managed to block the blow in the nick of time and he redoubled his efforts against Michael. 

Sam was very glad he had the two other war gods at his back because even with them, they were hard pressed to keep Michael on the back foot. It was a good twenty minutes before Sam got an opening. If he’d had a shot for a killing blow before this, he would have taken it, but this was his first opening and it was to Michael’s throat. He drew a light line there, using his other hand to pop the top off of the flask in his pocket as he did and turned to Thor and Raphael’s fight immediately, trusting that the grace would go into the container that was enchanted to capture it. He would leave mopping up what was left of Michael to Tyr and Freyja. 

 

Once Sam was in the fight, between the extra fighter that could actually hurt him, and his distraction over Michael’s fight, it was soon over. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the end of things. Sure, all of the enemy were down and there were no more coming through the rift, but the second Raphael fell, so did Thor. He had been fighting injured for quite a while and only adrenaline had kept him on his feet so long. Sam fell to his knees beside the thunder god, and got a good look at his injuries, both with his eyes and his grace and he knew that if Thor was going to live, he had to do something fast. The problem was he’d used so much of his energy in the fight that he didn’t know if he had any more in him. It didn’t matter though. He had to try. He wasn’t just going to stand here and let his brother-in-law die. Not if he could help it. 

Sam put a hand over the gaping wound in Thor’s stomach and the other over his forehead where the worst of the brain damage was settled and he pulled everything he had from deep inside. His screams of agony echoed across the field and even the battle hardened soldiers had to turn away. Only Tyr continued watching, and that was only so that he could pull Sam away when he’d done enough. In the end it wasn’t needed. Sam collapsed before Thor was out of the woods. At least he wasn’t on the brink of death anymore, but it was still a danger, and if Tyr understood grace correctly, now it was a danger for Sam too. He called for stretchers for both of them and rushed them back to Asgard, allowing Cas, who had shown up for the battle to accompany them. His healing might be able to help one or both of them.


	23. Chapter 23

Once they got back, both Cas and the healers had just pronounced that there was nothing they could do but hope they fought through on their own when Loki came barreling down the hall and burst into the room, stopping short at the long faces surrounding the beds of his husband and his brother. He felt his entire world falling out from beneath him. He should have gone. He should have helped. Maybe if he had it would have been different. He really was doomed to destroy everything he ever cared about. He fell to his knees between their beds and took their hands in his as he sobbed. 

Cas stood next to Sam, also thinking that he could have…should have…done more. Deep down he knew that anyone else in the fight would have just gotten in the way, but his thoughts were far from logical at the moment. The entire crowd waiting in the hallway was sharing the same thoughts. 

After a few minutes, Loki made a decision. He was going to try and take his grace back. Sure it might kill him as damaged as it was, but if it worked, he would be able to save Sam. That almost definitely would kill him, but he couldn’t just stand here and do nothing. He pulled himself to his feet and placed a hand on Sam’s chest, only then feeling the bottle that was in his upper pocket of his coat. He pulled it out curiously and sucked in a sharp breath. It was fully intact archangel grace. Loki spared a brief moment to wonder how he’d gotten it before he realized that it had to have come from Michael. The idiot had stolen his grace instead of just going for a killing blow. If that was why he was in this condition Loki was going to rip him a new one. As it was, this offered a better solution. 

Loki only considered the idea for a moment before taking the plunge. He popped the cap off the bottle and sucked down the grace. If being an archangel again was the price for Sam and Thor’s life, then there was no question. If another angel had tried this it would have killed them. It might have even killed another god, but Loki was unique. He hadn’t just given Sam his grace. He’d given him his entire identity. Everything that made him an angel. There was nothing left to interfere with this grace taking hold. At the same time, his being was created to hold the grace of an archangel to begin with so it was like filling up an empty hole. Something that no other god had either. That meant it was him or no one. 

Loki stumbled under the power filling him up and it took him a good couple minutes to regain his equilibrium before he got to work. He motioned everyone back and put one hand on Sam’s chest and the other on his head and let the familiar power of healing flow through him. He couldn’t heal Sam’s grace. Not completely, but he could patch it, and he did. It would still take time to heal, but it wouldn’t be so painful anymore. Once Sam was blinking his eyes open, Loki turned to Thor and did the same. By the time Thor was waking up, Cas and Tyr were catching Loki…no, Gabriel again, before he hit the floor as he lost consciousness.   
“Loki!” Sam cried in alarm, trying to sit up but not quite having the strength yet. 

“He’s fine, Sam,” Cas assured him, having seen the problem as soon as he started to collapse. “He’s just drained. When taking in grace like that, it takes time to build up in the body. He didn’t have much and just used it all. He’ll be awake in an hour or two, likely with a bad headache but no lingering problems.”

“Taking in grace…” Sam said furrowing his brow before feeling his chest pocket and noticing the vial missing. “He…he took Michael’s grace.”

“He did. I don’t know for what purpose you retrieved it, but it truly was a matter of life and death. For both you and Thor,” Cas told him, hoping that he wouldn’t be upset that it was gone. 

“No, it’s fine,” Sam said absentmindedly. “That’s exactly what I got it for. To offer it to him. I didn’t think he would accept it though.” Sam knew that Loki was still a long way from accepting the idea of being an archangel again. He had been making progress but he knew that his husband still saw himself as poison. He assumed he would be holding onto that grace for a long time before it was used. He supposed that was one good thing about dying. Now to make sure that he didn’t give it up again. 

Sam realized fairly quickly that he felt better than he had since he’d gotten the grace and assumed that Gabriel had done something to help him. He would wait until he woke up and he got a chance to ask before going poking at it though. He didn’t want to make anything worse again. He looked over to Thor and asked, “You okay?” 

“I am fine. Now. I didn’t think I was going to make it there for a while,” he admitted. 

“I’m sorry,” Sam said sadly. “I tried, but I was too tired…”

“From what I understand you nearly killed yourself trying. You have nothing to be sorry for,” Thor was quick to assure him. A nod and a smile passed between them and just like that the last reservations for both of them dissolved. They had been starting to see each other more as friends lately, but now…after standing side by side in battle…after facing death together…after sacrificing for each other…now they were brothers. 

Thor went to get out of bed, learning from Sam’s mistake and going slowly, only to find himself pressed back down by the healers. “I am fine, Eir. Loki has healed me completely. What I need is to see to my kingdom,” he snapped irritably. He never was one for laying in a sickbed. 

“You were near death not ten minutes ago. You need to rest,” the healer insisted. Sam caught his eye and gave him a nod before he started to get up, intentionally knocking over a tray as he did so, drawing Eir’s attention. As she attempted to get him back into bed, as Sam pretended to keep falling down, grabbing onto her to steady himself and clean up his mess at the same time, Thor slipped out the door as Tyr tried his best to stifle his laughter. Once Thor had made his escape, Sam allowed himself to be settled back into the bed and the healer finished picking up the tray he had dropped. 

She turned around and saw the other bed empty and stomped her foot, turning to glare at Sam who plastered the most innocent look he could manage on his face, well used to making those kinds of distractions for Dean. “Idun!” she called, and a younger healer rushed out of the back. “You take care of these two while I hunt down our stubborn king,” she said frustrated. 

Once she found him, sitting on his throne and looking over a stack of paperwork as thick as her fist, she glared at him. He had the gall to look not the slightest bit sorry as he said. “I will rest. I will just do so here, with my work.”

“Fine. Then I will stay glued to your side until I am satisfied that you won’t have a relapse,” she said firmly. She could be just as stubborn as him. It was basically a requirement to be head healer. 

“As you wish,” he said dismissively. He would take his small victories where he could get them and when going up against Eir, they were few and far between when it came to the health of her patients. 

Once Eir was gone, Sam again tried to get up, this time for real, only to be stopped by Idun. “Look, I have no problem laying in bed and resting. I just want to be next to my husband when I do,” he told her and her face softened. She still pushed him back on the bed, but rolled it over against Loki’s and waved a hand fusing the two together to make one large bed. Sam rolled towards his husband and pulled him into his arms happily. He missed Cas and Tyr clearing out and giving them their privacy and Idun doing the same. As much as she still could and keep an eye on them at least. She went to sit at her desk in the opposite corner of the room. 

It was a couple hours, as predicted before Gabriel started to stir, and Sam tightened his arms comfortingly around his husband. Loki opened his eyes and winced with a groaning, “Ow,” as his free hand not crammed against Sam came up to his head. “Did anyone get the number of the bus that hit me?” 

Sam gave a soft chuckle as Idun came over to check him out. “Apparently you drained your new grace a little too low healing Thor and I,” Sam told him, looking up at Idun who gave him a discreet nod letting him know everything was okay before heading back to her desk. 

“Remind me not to do that again,” he said weakly before his eyes snapped open again as his last memories came rushing back to him. His new grace. He was an archangel again. Sam and Thor had almost died. He turned to Sam, looking him over with both his eyes and his grace and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that he was okay. “Thor?” he asked seeing that they were alone in the infirmary. 

“Probably still trying to run away from Eir,” Sam said with a chuckle that was echoed by Loki before he groaned and grabbed his head again. Laughing was not a good idea right now. “What did you do to my grace? Is it okay for me to use it now? I wanted to wait and ask to be sure. 

“I just patched it. It’s still going to take time to heal, but you can use it sparingly without busting the patch. Just don’t overdo it. No more healing. Period. You nearly shattered it completely with that last stunt you pulled.”

“I wasn’t just going to let Thor die,” Sam defended himself. 

Loki deflated. “I know. And thank you. But I have grace again now and mine is in one piece. There’s no reason for you to even try to heal anyone.” 

“Unless something happens to you, you have a deal,” Sam promised and that was the best he could do. 

“Unless I’m dying,” Loki clarified and Sam nodded. He knew that was the best he was going to get too so he would just have to be extra careful until Sam’s grace was healed, and first on the agenda of being careful was a nap.


	24. Chapter 24

They rested there in Asgard’s infirmary for two days before they felt up to returning to heaven. Cas had called Balthazar as a go-between since he was the highest level angel that still had his wings and could get back and forth alone. Thor was a frequent visitor and Eir had finally left him alone after the first day and a half. It was time to get back to the real world though. First, Sam and Gabriel had to stop by the bunker to let Dean and Mary know they were okay. Balthazar had been by to give them the news, but understandably they wanted to see for themselves. It would be a short trip though. The angels also wanted to see for themselves that their boss was okay. They’d asked Balthazar to keep quiet about Gabriel’s re-ascension to archangel. Gabriel still didn’t want to take control of anything in heaven, but agreed to be a secondary ruler as long as Sam was still in charge. 

They had gotten word halfway through the first day that Jack had woken up. Neither of them felt comfortable with Gabriel leaving though. With Sam unable to heal, he wanted to keep him close to the healers until he was a hundred percent. Jack was being well taken care of and Sam had sent him a message to stay put and he’d be there as soon as he could. He wasn’t about to leave his husband’s side at the moment though and Gabriel wasn’t too keen for Sam to be away from him either. Not after the close calls they’d had. Finally, they were as good as they were going to get for a while and they said goodbye to Thor and headed for the bunker. Both of them were crushed in hugs by Mary and Sam had his turn with Dean. Dean and Gabriel were much closer now, but not quite hugging close. He did get a “Doing okay shortie?” from the hunter though, and that was good enough for him. 

“Much better. You got the low down on my grace situation I’m guessing?” Gabriel asked. 

“Yep. You’re all juiced up again, I hear. What does that mean for Sam?” Dean asked. 

“It means he has backup now, and I can help him heal his grace quicker,” Gabriel told him. “It still won’t be overnight, but it won’t be months either. Or the close to a year it would have been after his last stunt.”

“That’s good. But you can’t take yours back now?” Dean asked. He’d been hoping this was temporary and Sam would be coming home. 

“Nope. Not unless I make someone else Michael. It was that or let both Sam and Thor die though,” he pointed out. While technically Sam was Gabriel and Gabriel was Michael, they weren’t going to get into those semantics. The angels had adjusted to calling Sam, Sam. They would adjust to Gabriel being Gabriel too. 

“We do need to make this visit short though. We got word that Jack woke up yesterday so we should get up there to see him and reassure the angels that we’re still alive too,” Sam jumped in. It was best to give his brother some time to process these things anyway. He had a tendency to let his mouth run away with him otherwise. 

“Yeah, okay. Just don’t be a stranger,” Dean told him, clapping them both on the back before they flew away. 

“Okay, I say we divide and conquer,” Gabriel suggested once they were back in their rooms. “I don’t know Jack, so he’d be more comfortable if you go to see him. I figure I’ll go ahead and get a start on getting the original angels back their wings. It shouldn’t take more than a few hours to do all eleven of them. Once you’re done with Jack you can start calling in the new angels to revise their oath. That gets us back here and together quicker.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Sam said leaning over for a kiss before they split up. Sam stepped into the room where Jack was still laying in bed. “Hey Jack. How are you feeling?” 

“Not very well,” he said, eyes lighting up at the familiar face. “I feel…very weak.”

“That’s understandable. Did they explain what’s happening to you?” Sam asked. 

“They said something about my power burning away,” Jack said with a nod. 

“Yeah. It’s possible to get some of it back, but not all of it. You just have to stay strong. You’ll probably be pretty tired for a few days as your system tries to adjust and replenish what it can. Are you in any pain?” 

“Just a little bit. It was really bad when I first woke up, but it’s gotten better since then,” Jack told him. 

“Good. I don’t know that we could do anything for it, but if it gets bad again let someone know and we can at least try,” Sam offered. 

“Thanks Sam. How is Mary? And Dean? They said they didn’t know.”

“They’re both fine. Worried about you though,” Sam told him. They usually asked him at least once a day how Jack was. “You did good kid. Knocked Michael for a loop. We finished him off though. We’re all safe now.” Jack smiled as he closed his eyes for a long moment. Sam could see that he was having trouble opening them again. “You just rest. I’ll be back to check on you later,” Sam promised. 

Sam’s next stop was the throne room. From there he could summon the angels he needed. He assumed that Gabriel had already summoned his group and taken them to the offices that he’d decided to claim. Sam decided that he would take care of the oaths here in the throne room in order to reaffirm his position as their boss. Balthazar, as usual, stepped up first. He was still the social leader of their group. He took the revised oath from Sam and read over it, relaxing a great deal as he read it. May of the restrictions on them had been rescinded. They would no longer essentially be slaves. That boded well for the remainder of the restrictions to be removed in time. Now the only real restrictions left were that they couldn’t leave heaven without permission and they were forbidden from interacting with humans. There were of course, the standard loyalty statements, which would always be there, but all in all, even this much was far better than they’d had under Michael. He didn’t hesitate to take the oath and neither did the others. None of them mentioned the one who’d chosen to fall instead of take the original oath and neither did Sam. When they had earned his trust completely, then he would approach the last with this version of the oath. The fewer he had to look after right now, the better.

As he was finishing up with them, Gabriel came back with the other eleven whose wings would now regrow over the next few months, and he sat on the second smaller throne. They explained the new order of things, and told them the short version of Gabriel’s story. Gabriel made it clear that he may have been one of the original archangels, but this was Sam’s show. He was just here for support. There were some grumbles about it, but no one made an issue of it. That done, they dismissed them all and headed back to their rooms for their first chance at real privacy in days. It took a few hours before Sam was able to drag himself out of bed and go check on Jack again, but the young Nephilim was sleeping at the moment, so he just checked with Lily, who’d been watching over him. He’d woken up briefly a couple hours ago, but had been out again soon after. Sam asked her to send for him the next time Jack woke up. He would bring Gabriel and have him look Jack over again, now that he had his grace back. Then he returned to bed where his husband was still waiting for him. 

Over the next few months, everyone got better. It ended up taking almost a month for Sam’s grace to heal and he finally felt whole. Gabriel was well into teaching Sam how to use his grace now that he could do so safely and Sam was making great progress. Jack had finally levelled off at what seemed to be his new normal. His power levels were slightly below the archangels, but Jack didn’t mind. He was glad not to be the most powerful thing in the universe anymore. The only ones that minded were the angels who had been holding out hope that Jack would get strong enough to make more angels. Sam, Gabriel, Jack, and Cas spent some time every day at the bunker and Sam and Gabriel made near daily trips to Asgard as well. It was much easier now that they were sharing the work in heaven and Sam was building up enough trust with all of the angels to delegate a little more. 

Once they were sure of Jack’s prognosis, they called all the angels together. “Since making new angels is not feasible at the moment for anything but special cases, we’ve decided that we will need to renew the population the old fashioned way. The threat of Michael is ended, and we have the full alliance of Asgard for protection against any new threats, so we should be more than safe to do so. To show our own confidence in our safety, Gabriel and I have decided to be the first to welcome a new addition,” Sam told them, announcing their pregnancy to all of heaven. They had decided that Sam would be the one to carry the baby since the baby would take on the race of the carrier, and Gabriel still had quite a bit of pagan in him. It was the angels that needed repopulating, not a new race of hybrids. 

The celebration that evening was one for the record books. Heaven had never seen the likes of it before. Thanks to Balthazar, there were enough libations going around that Sam and Gabriel figured that they may end up having a race to see who had the first baby. They would break the news to their families tomorrow. They figured the angels needed to know about their new hope first. In the end, that’s what they decided to name the baby when they found out it was a girl. Hope.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the technical end of the story. There will be a bonus chapter up tomorrow where Sam catches up with all his friends (and not quite friends) in heaven.


	25. Chapter 25

A year after Sam had become an archangel, he was very very pregnant. It was making him nostalgic and emotional. Things were running smoothly enough in heaven now for him to take a little time. The new angels had all their restrictions lifted to the same status as the old angels and Sam was back to a full staff. That gave him a little more time to spend in both the bunker and Asgard. He had still yet to get his two brothers to get along for more than brief periods. They were just too much alike in all the wrong ways, but that was okay. It wasn’t like Thor could take much time away from Asgard anyway and Dean wasn’t exactly keen on hanging out in a city of the gods any more than he would have been keen on hanging out in heaven if he could get here. 

Now that his baby was on the way though, he decided that he hadn’t done nearly enough exploring in heaven. Oh he had explored the control center and the angel’s sections endlessly, but he hadn’t yet stepped foot in the human heavens. He knew it was possible since Cas had mentioned spending his free time in the sunny Tuesday of an autistic man. He’d gotten some tips about getting around out there from Gabriel and set out to find some of the people he’d lost. His first thought was to look for his father, if he was here, but he came up blank. He’d have to see about finding out what happened to him one day. He knew the man had gotten out of hell, and his spirit was no longer on earth. Was he lost in some kind of limbo? He just shrugged. That was a problem for another day. 

His next stop was looking for Bobby. HIS Bobby. He found him pretty easily, sitting in a nice cozy house with his wife, Karen. He was introduced to her and he and Bobby spent a few hours catching up. Sam promised to come back soon…with the baby, after Bobby and Karen all but demanded it. Then he went looking for Ellen and Jo. He figured Ash at least would be with them since they had the rebuilt roadhouse in heaven. At least they’d used to. When he found them, he learned that they hadn’t been able to navigate for a while. Apparently the power loss in heaven affected Ash’s programs too, but in the year since it had stabilized they were back up and running. In fact, they invited him to stick around and he would see a lot of familiar faces coming in in the next few hours. Sam decided that was a better idea than hunting everyone down. He could still hunt down those he missed afterwards. 

Pamela was the first one he saw and he got a nice hug, even after she found out that he was an angel now. She still wasn’t particularly comfortable with them given the loss of her eyes in life, but the distance from the problem and restoration of her eyes in heaven had eased that discomfort quite a bit. The one he was most surprised to see was Kevin. The prophet had flinched when he’d first seen Sam, a glaring reminder for the archangel how the kid had died, but he quickly caught himself and assured Sam that it wasn’t his fault. Sam disagreed still, but let it go in favor of a nice evening. 

Charlie he wasn’t nearly as surprised to see. She seemed like she would fit in with this crowd perfectly, unlike Kevin, and he already knew Ash’s propensity to seek out Winchester friends. Once again, he apologized to Charlie for getting her killed. She punched him on the arm for even considering the idea and then shot off a hundred rapid fire questions about being an angel, the baby, how that worked, the treaty with Asgard that she called ‘wicked’, and more. There was no need to tell her his story. She dragged all the details out of him with her endless questions. It was so Charlie that Sam couldn’t help but laugh on more than one occasion. 

By the end of the evening there were only two people missing that he wanted to find. One was not exactly a friend, but he owed him a thank you at the very least. If he was even here. The other…he hadn’t decided whether to look up or not. Would it hurt more or less to see Jess again? He had Gabriel now and he was more than happy, but he had loved Jess dearly in the short time he’d had her. Almost as much as he loved Gabriel now. Some wounds didn’t need to be reopened. He decided to look for Ketch first and decide about Jess later. 

It didn’t take him long to find Ketch and he was surprised to find that he sensed three souls in there. It wasn’t uncommon to find two souls sharing a heaven, but he hadn’t seen three before. He shrugged and knocked on the door of the little country house, eyes widening when Mick answered the door. “Sam? What are you doing here? How did you get here?” he asked confused. 

“It’s kind of a long story. Ketch around?” Sam asked. He really only wanted to go into it once and he wasn’t sure how much Dean had told Ketch after he went back into the rift the last time. Seeing as he seemed to have not told their mother anything, he assumed it was the same here. He noticed Mick’s eyes settling on his rotund stomach with a burning curiosity, but he nodded and stepped aside, inviting Sam in. Sam noticed Ketch and another man who looked just like him sitting around a board game on the floor. All three of the men looked much younger than he had last seen them, but that was pretty common here. “Ketch?” he asked and the two men on the floor both looked up curiously. “Um…Arthur Ketch?” 

“Yes, Sam?” one of them drawled. 

“I just want to say, Thank you. For Charlie. And for helping Dean,” Sam said hesitantly. 

“I have apparently earned my redemption, so it was worth it,” he said gesturing around him. “How are you here?”

Sam launched into his story for what seemed like the hundredth time, getting the appropriate reactions at the appropriate times and then asked if they knew how all three of them happened to be here. It was the other Ketch who answered. “Twins automatically share a heaven and Mick is Art’s soulmate so he’s here with us.” 

“Ah. That makes sense. I didn’t realize that twins share a heaven,” Sam said with a nod. 

“Aren’t you the leader of heaven?” Ketch scoffed amusedly. 

“Technically yes, but I’m still rather new,” Sam said with a sheepish shrug, pulling a laugh from the three men on the floor. “Got room for a fourth?” he asked with a raised eyebrow and they motioned him to sit down. Mick and Alex jumping up to help him when he struggled with his stomach. A couple hours later the four of them had the start of a nice friendship, and Sam was on his way. He’d decided that he would look in on Jess. 

It didn’t take him long to find her and she was in exactly the kind of place he would have picked for her. A small house with a nice picket fence and a dog running around outside. Sam smiled and went up to knock on the door. It was opened shortly after with a confused look. He imagined that she’d never had a visitor since she got here so long ago. As soon as she saw him though, her eyes lit up. “Sam!” she cried jumping in his arms. Only then did she notice his stomach. “What…?”

“It’s kind of a long story,” he said as he explained it again. 

“So you’re an archangel and married to another archangel and having a baby. Wow. That’s…that’s a lot,” Jess said a little overwhelmed. Sam was reminded that, of all the people he’d visited, she’d been the only one that hadn’t known of the supernatural before. “If anyone deserves happiness though, you do Sam,” she reached out and took his hand. 

“Hey, Sammykins. You’ve been gone a while,” Sam was startled by another voice next to him. Gabriel looked between the two and their joined hands. He knew exactly who she was. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to interrupt,” he said coldly and then left before Sam could say a word. 

“Crap,” Sam sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. 

“I’m sorry,” Jess said apologetically. 

“No, it’s okay. It’s not your fault. It was just bad timing. I better go find him though,” Sam said. She nodded. “Would you like me to come back sometime?”

“Only if it won’t cause problems with you and your husband,” she told him. It would be nice to have some company from time to time. 

“I’ll take care of it. If nothing else, I’ll bring him along if you don’t mind,” Sam said. 

“I would love that,” Jess said with a bright smile. She would love the chance to get to know the man that had stolen Sam’s heart. “Good luck, Sam.” She gave him one more hug and shooed him out the door to find his husband. 

Sam reached out to sense Gabriel and found him on earth. He flew right to his side, landing at a rather seedy bar. “It’s not what you think, Gabriel.”

“Looked pretty clear to me,” the pagan archangel said, knocking back another row of shots. 

“Maybe because you only got a quick look. I was telling her about you and our baby and she was congratulating me,” Sam told him. “She said that she was glad I was happy. With YOU. Because I love YOU.”

Gabriel turned to look at Sam with narrowed eyes. “And you just decided to look up your old girlfriend because…”

“I didn’t look her up ‘because’ she was my old girlfriend. I looked her up because she was someone that I once cared for that died because of me. Same way I looked up Bobby and Charlie and Kevin and Ellen and Jo and so on,” Sam told him. 

“You once cared about? Looked like there was still something there to me,” Gabriel said bitterly. 

“Look, I’m gonna be completely honest with you here Gabriel. Do I still care for her, yes. Of course. Our relationship never got to reach a conclusion and those feelings don’t just go away. But I would NEVER trade you for her. I would never hurt you to be with her. She and I are in the past and you are my everything. My present and my future. What I feel for her is as much what could have been as what was. You are my whole world. Please tell me you can understand that,” Sam begged. 

Gabriel turned to look at him, wobbling a bit on his chair. He had drunk enough, fast enough, to get a bit of a head rush, despite his archangel constitution. “Then why hide it? Why not just tell me you were going to see her.”

“I should have. I’m sorry. I just hadn’t even decided if I would or not until I was already there. If I had been planning on it, I would have told you,” Sam told him. “If I go back to see her again, I want you to come with me,” Sam hoped that would help. 

Gabriel took a deep breath. “Okay. Yeah. I can do that,” he said with a nod. His biggest trouble with the situation was that it seemed to him that Sam had hid it. That hadn’t boded well for his intentions, but now…well, he would give his husband the benefit of the doubt. No sooner than he came to that decision, Sam doubled over. 

“Shit…Gabriel…I think it’s time,” he gritted out between his teeth. 

Gabriel’s eyes widened and he tossed a wad of bills on the counter, probably making the young bartender’s day, but he wasn’t paying any attention at all to how much he left. He was suddenly reminded too that they were in a human bar and Sam was a very pregnant man. There was nothing for it though. He didn’t think Sam was in any position to walk to a deserted area right now and a little guy like him carrying someone of Sam’s size would raise just as many eyebrows as their disappearance. Besides, they would all probably blame the sight on the alcohol anyway, so he just grabbed Sam’s arm and flew them back to heaven’s infirmary. 

Sam had already given blanket permission for Thor to be here when he gave birth. He would have liked Mom and Dean to be here too, but they couldn’t get into heaven without dying so he would have to do this without them. Gabriel sent word to Thor and Cas who would be here to represent Sam’s side of the family in their absence and settled him on the bed. Birth for angels was very different than for humans. The baby didn’t actually have to be squeezed out of anywhere, using its infant grace to phase in a manner of flying out of the ‘mother’s’ body. It would still take a bit of time and be rather painful for Sam during the trial and error phase. Gabriel was right there by his side through the whole thing and Sam had long known what to expect. 

It was a few hours before there was a crying baby settled on his stomach and both Sam and Gabriel reached out for her at the same time to keep her from falling. Both of their arms settled her to Sam’s chest as Gabriel slid into bed next to them to cuddle them both. “Our little Hope,” Gabriel whispered, pressing a soft kiss to his husband’s lips and then his daughter’s forehead. 

Sam huffed a little laugh. “You still smell like booze,” he said amusedly. 

Gabriel laughed with him and snapped his fingers. “Better?” he asked leaning down for another kiss. 

“Much,” Sam said with a grin. 

It took a few days to make the rounds with the baby. Mary, in particular, hadn’t wanted to let her go. Those rounds included their friends and family in heaven and everyone who met her fell in love with her. Over the next few months there were quite a few more births and the infirmary was kept hopping. All but a handful of angels had gotten pregnant following Sam and Gabriel’s announcement. Few of them had long term partners, but still paired off for the purpose of repopulating. They all had different arrangements that suited them. Sometimes both partners would care for the children, given that they could both be pregnant at the same time. Other times, the carrier would be the only parent. Sam had decided that it was none of his business and paid little attention to it, but Gabriel was just nosy. Over the course of five months, heaven had nearly doubled its population, and many, including Sam and Gabriel, were already planning for another child. 

Even Jack had gotten in on the action, and unlike most, he actually found love with Lily, who had cared for him while he was hurt. None of them knew what the child of a low-powered Nephilim would be like, so it was an easy decision for Lily to carry their children. That way they would just be seraphs. Their first child was born much later. Almost a year after Hope, but their situation had been different. They needed time for themselves first. It wasn’t a simple ‘business arrangement’ as it had been for most. 

Thankfully, Sam hadn’t had to put his foot down about getting pregnant by humans. They all knew better. While in normal situations, the child would always take on the characteristics of the carrier, the human soul was a little more persistent. It tended to muck things up in unpredictable ways. Any previously human monster, like werewolves, vampires, rugaroos, and so on had the same problem, not that anyone would be likely to approach one of them to have a baby. Anything that was never human though like angels and pagans were perfectly safe. Some of the angels had even decided to have a child with a pagan, as long as they were the one carrying it. At one meeting of the angels, Sam looked around at all the babies that everyone had to bring along, and he smiled. Yeah, they would all be okay.


End file.
